Neighbour
by Ag-ro-tag
Summary: Everybody is trying to find a purpose, in which he or she could devote completely. But not everyone knows, that the aim is right under their noses. Lavi's purpose lives in room 543... LavixAllen, Laven. FIRST FIC EVER!
1. Longing for a dream

**WARNING, EVERONE! READ OR YOUR BRAIN WILL EAT ITSELF O.o**

**This is my first fanfic ever, so... And I'm new here, well... And I'm not from any English-speaking counry, then... I just wanted to share my story with you, since I'm a Lavi x Allen fan. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I'll take any comment, ANY. But please... NO FLAG! **

**You flag, I delete. Simple? Oh, I guess we're going to be best friends xD **

**Yeah, I'm TALKING TO YOU, Mr. READER! And don't forget, that I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF THE STORY. THEY WERE BORROWED FROM MANGA MAN, CREATION OF KATSURA HOSHINO!**

**I think it should be enough :D Oh wait... I've forgot about something... Yeah! THIS STORY CONTAINS SHOUNEN-AI/YAOI (means BOYxBOY LOVE) SO IF IT OFFENDS YOU, YOUR OUTLOOK OR YOUR PARROT, THAN PLEASE, YOU KNOW WHERE THE "CLOSE" BUTTON IS, RIGHT? (It's this little button with "X" on the right, top corner of this window). I have a feeling, that I should have mentioned about it earlier xP**

**Anyway YOU were warned *khe khe khe...***

**Alright, enough talking, I hope you'll like this story ^^  
**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 1: Longing for a dream~~~~~~~~~~

Tic... Tac... Tic... Tac... Tic... Tac...

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48th floor. Room 544. Living room.**

_It's 4:06... It's dark. It's silent. Why the hell I can't sleep?_

Tic... Tac... Tic... Tac...

_Stupid insomnia. I wish I could just shut my eyes and lose myself into a joyful dream with sexy rabbit-girls or meadow full of flowers, or... Gah, what the hell! Even a pitch black scenery before my eyes is good! I just want to sleep!_

Tic... Tac... Tic... Tac...

_My ceiling looks pretty interesting... White. A white celling. Oh! I think I see a little crack in it. Maybe I should repair it? Or re-paint it? Is it really a crack? How am I supposed to know, it's dark in here! I should turn on the light._

Click!

_Now I can see better. Gosh, it's a HUGE crack! I'm glad I'm still alive, I could have been smashed by other 32 floors in no time. How much tons it would be? Counting whole construction, plus apartments' furniture plus about 2000-2500 people living up there... I think average would be 85 kilograms per person? That would be..._

_I really have to repair the ceiling._

Click!

Tic... Tac... Tic... Tac...

_Go to bed... Go to sleep... Mind blank, think of something positive... I think I should put a poster on this crack. Two pluses: I don't have a white, plain, boring ceiling in front of my eyes anymore and the crack is unnoticeable for guests! ARGH! NO THINKING! NO THINKING ABOUT CRACK!_

Tic... Tac... Tic... Tac... Ding-Dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

_It's 5 a.m. It's dark. It's silent. I guess I'll read something wise and make some coffee. DOUBLE DOSE of coffee..._

-------------------------------------------

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIII-!

*Beep* Hello. You've put yourself on to Lavi Bookman's voice mail. If you want to leave a message, please do it so after a signal, or try to call again later.

*Beep* Lavi? It's me, Lavi (_What does Panda-gramps want from me? It's freaking 6 a.m.!_) You should do something with this annoying voice mail's welcome! Your voice irritates me! (_I've missed you too, gramps..._) Anyway, I'm calling because I won't come back tomorrow, some business in Egypt (_I bet chicks..._) You know... I've met someone really fascinating (_Chick..._) It's a really intelligent person and kinda pretty (_I hear girl's laughter in the background... Chick..._) I won't be back for maybe... 3 weeks. I've got to go. Find yourself a girlfriend! (_Yeah... Girls in Paleozoic times were probably 4 times more clever than a modern ones..._)

*Beep* (_Cheers..._)

_Weekend free for me! I hope Panda will buy me some of Egyptian stuff! Books about Pyramids, a Sphinx figure, a copy of the Tutankhamen's mask... or at least a bag of sand... He'll forget about me, I'm pretty sure._

_Have a nice vacation, gramps._

_...coffee is working, need to go to the toilet..._

-------------------------------------------

"4 o'Clock

4 o'Clock

Never let me sleep

I close my eyes and pray

For the garish light of day

Like a frightened child I run

From the sleep that never comes"

_How... Ironic... You've really gotta be kidding me! Who the hell turns on the music that loudly at... 7 a.m.!!?? And those lyrics... 3 days without a rest... Oh, "TURN THIS FUCKING MUSIC DOWN!". I hope this early-morning person heard it. I need to do something, something creative, something tiresome, something cheerful..._

4 o'Clock

4 o'Clock

Out of bed I creep

To climb this tower of shame

But the hour's still the sam- _AAAAGRH! I started to sing along! I hate it. Why I can't sleep!? It's driving me crazy! Am I sick or something?!_

"Go to a therapist"

_No way I'm going there. A Therapist needs a therapy on his own..._

"What about sleeping pills?"

_I'm not taking that stuff. Who knows what side-effects it can cause? And what if I get addicted!?_

"Drinking water?"

_I tried. Instead of sleeping I'd paid many visits to the bathroom._

"Warm milk?"

_Useless_...

"Cooler room?"

_Come on, I'm on 48th floor! It's freaking cold and windy! It doesn't help!_

"Lullaby?"

_From who? I'm completely alone... I don't know any..._

Why can we never go back to bed?

Why can we never go back to bed?

_Crap... I have to go to work... My eyes are heavy..._

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're late, Bookman!" A big, fat man rushed (crawled, in Lavi's opinion) towards the boy.

"I'm sorry, Boss, the bus had arrived later due to the weather's condition" Lavi gave a wide, careless smile.

"For 3 hours!?" the boss asked annoyed. '_Actually I had a nice nap on my chair in the kitchen, 'cause to your information I'm on my legs 24 hours for 3 days, so if you can calculate, which I doubt, I'm awake for more than 72 hours, so that 3 hours (sorry, 2, an hour takes me coming here) were a blessing for my brain, you fatass_!' Lavi apologized again and entered his office. Being a historian was his biggest dream, but due to his young age and going to school (only one class left and bye-bye!), he had to work as a part-time secretary in the Future Technology Inc. Not that he was interested in technology, that was the nearest available job from his apartment. 'Nearest... An hour by bus...' Lavi thought while signing some unnecessary documents and putting them with other already signed. He looked at clock. 10:40. The time was passing by reaaaaaly sloooowly. Lavi sighed before picking up the phone and arguing with an unknown man about the number of new discs for the office's computers. Another look at the clock. 10:52. 'JESUS CHRIST!' another sigh and another mountain of documents.

"Bookman! A coffee to my office, right now!" A speaker called. 'Here it comes, Your Highness!' Lavi thought angrily while making cafe mocha (boss' favorite).

Knock. Knock.

"Come in!"

'_What a warm welcome_'

Lavi left a cup on the desk and wanted to leave the room, but a deep voice told him to stay and take a seat. He did it and talked with the boss for a while about company's risings and fallings, about irresponsible employees, about only-boss-is-right-and-you-must-agree-otherwise-you'll-lose-your-job.

'I want to go out...'

"Now, I think it is time to settle one thing.

_'What the hell...?'_

You know, Bookman, due to our company's lack in funds, we are forced to... reduce the number of our current employees and cut down the salaries.

_'Great, I'll have less cash than normally._..'

I observed everyone in my office during a couple of days and I must admit that every person here is a really precious worker, but we aren't gods and we can't do miracles, can we?

_'Laugh when he laughs. Hahaha... What a fatal joke...'_

So... Bookman, you're young, very talented, very obedient. I'm pretty sure that you'll find a better place, where you can improve your skills, gain some experience and make a career. I wish it to you from the bottom of my heart.

_'Stand up... Shake his hand... Smile politely...'_

Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Lavi Bookman."

The doors closed. Every single person could see a walking redhead with green eyes full of emptiness and disappointment. A face with a smile. He was always a smiling person, very optimistic spirit. Everyone adored him. He gave them a power to survive those crappy 8 hours in the office. He protected them from the boss' wave of anger. He helped them with the paperwork. How sad...

_'I... Lost my job...?'_

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WOOHOOOO! Great! New score! I'm out of my work at 12:14! Come on everybody, let's celebrate!" A half-drunk redhead enteret the Skycraper "13" at 17:36. The hall was empty, only a receptionist welcomed a hyper-happy drunkie. The man asked for the key to the room 544 and stared at the girl with a soft smile on her face, who searched for the right key.

"You're a new face for me. It's your first time working here?" redhead asked. The girl turned around, so he could examine her appearance more precisely. She seemed to be from Asia, her softly-yellow skin and slanting eyes were rather noticable. Long, black hair were done in a big ponytail and eyes glimmering from the redhead's look, which caused a little blood-pour in her cheeks. A man smiled and pointed her the right key from the shelf. Asian girl took it and gave to the man.

"You're really cute, I must admit." he smiled - half from politeness, half from alcohol. "I'm Lavi, nice to meet you..." he looked at girl's card, placed on her chest "...Lenalee".

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr...." she looked throught the guest book, in which the redhead was listed near number 544 "...Mr. Bookman".

"No need for formalities! Just call me Lavi!" he laughed. He looked at shelf and found something odd "Excuse me, sweetie, but shouldn't be a key for the room 543 in it's place? 'Cause I see it's missing."

"Oh no, please don't worry, sir. This room had been occupied a little before sir came here." The girl answered.

"I see, I have a new neighbour then..." he'd said quietly before he went to elevators. Lavi could hear Lenalee's goodbye while the doors were closing.

'What the hell am I supposed to do? I have no job, no money for living, no will for anything! Damn, I'm gonna have a hangover tommorow, I know it for sure'

He stopped before his room and looked at 543. No one has occupied that place since the mysterious murder of a just-married couple 4 months ago. It was a really loud case, every newspaper wrote about it in whole country. That's why nobody was brave enough to live in that apartment.

'_Either those people are brave or stupid.'_ He put the key in the door _'Or maybe they don't read newspapers, or they're from different country' _*Click* _'Or why the hell I care...They'd better not be so annoying...' _The door closed when he entered. He was too tired, too brought down, too drunk to do his usual work: make a dinner, wash yourself, wonder how to fall asleep. He took a big gulp from Wine bottle and laid on the couch. He felt dizzy, he hated drinking, he drank only occasionally. This was an occasion. He was fired, he didn't know where to find a new job, he didn't have much money left, he didn't want to ask his grandfather for help.

Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

He looked at the ceiling. He looked at the crack.

Gulp.

_Come to think of it... This crack looks like the Nile river. Oh yeah, Egypt. Panda, you're lucky. You're famous, you're rich, you're free from work, you're having a great time there. You damned bastard... Why do you have everything? Why do you do as you wish? Can't I be like this too? I'm your goddamned grandson! I'm the only one left here, I'm still your goddamn relative and so you are mine! _

Gulp.

_Fuck this. I don't need your fucking help. I'm fine on my own. I don't need anybody. I don't need anything. I don't... I don't..._

Gulp. Gulp. CRACK!

Chrrr... Chrrr... Chrrr...

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**Yep, this is the end of chapter! Quite lame intoduction, but INTRODUCTION had to be shown xP**

**The lyrics of the song used in story are "4 O'clock" by Emilie Autumn! I DON'T OWN THE SONG! It inspired me to write this chapter ^^**

**More will come!  
**


	2. Good morning, bleeding Stranger!

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 2: Good morning, bleeding Stranger!~~~~~~~~~~

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

7 a.m.

"Oh fuck... Oh Jesus, my head... My freaking head..."

A silent whines could be heard in room 544. Lavi Bookman, age 20, was laying on his couch and dealing with a headache.

"Good job, you idiot..."

Lavi made a scowl while grabbing his red hair.

"Oh God, why did you invent hangovers? I won't drink anymore..."

He opened his eyes. The room seems to be as normal as usually. Well, maybe it was a little brighter in Lavi's eyes. A little brighter means blinding bright. He hissed as light hurt his eyeballs, forcing them to cover behind their eyelids.

"At least I've got some sleep."

While he tried to regain full control over his body, he felt a jolting pain in his hand.

"What the...? OH SHIT! O SHITSHITSHIT-!"

He ran to the bathroom and put his hand under a tap. Cold water washed away all bloody signs, uncovering a deep cut with a green-glass fragment stabbed in skin. Lavi's eyes were full of horror as he realized that he hadn't got a first aid kid. He tried to pull the glass out, but all his attempts caused a comeback of bleeding. The hand found itself under the tap again.

"Jesus Christ, what should I do?"

He swore under his nose a few times.

"Maybe I should call an ambulance? I should go to hospital!"

He gave up the idea, as he didn't feel like going out today. After all, he was on a hangover and he wouldn't be able to stand all those blinding halogens, noisy apparatus and annoying people. Everything annoyed him today.

"What a great beginning of the day! Glad to know the world hates me."

He joked at himself and let a little laughter come out of his lips. Lavi stared at his hand for a few more minutes. If he didn't react fast, the infection might intrude in the cut and it'd be a lot worse situation. He thought for a while and grabbed a toilet paper, in which he wrapped his damn-hurting hand. '_This should do for a while_' Lavi started to consider gritting his teeth and going to "damned" hospital. '_I need some fresh air_' He went to his terrace right after he had got rid of his stomach's contents. Those after-alcohol contents.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**The Glorious Street. Skycraper "13". 48th floor. Room 544. Terrace.**

It's 7:35. It's a beautiful weather, a beautiful view, a beautiful morning and a not beautiful Lavi's mood. '_Gosh, my head is making me think about suicide..._' He looked down at the city. There was always something special for him about living so high. The city under him seemed like a big, living organism, with veins (streets), blood cells (cars) and tissues (crowded places). Just like in human's. A pulse of the city was filled with an energy, which poured into tired Lavi every morning, making him believe that he would find a purpose, in which he would devote himself forever. '_I guess the world will have a break from me today_' the redhead leaned himself against balustrade and looked forward. '_Everything would be perfect if not that stupid hand!_' he rubbed his limb to turn down pain. '_I wonder how I did it to myself? I must have broken the bottle in my hand when I was over-drunk... Great..._' he hissed and tried to enjoy the view.

*Yaaaaaaaaaaawn*

Something disturbed Lavi's usual peace. Since when there was a yawning heard? As far as he could remember rarely does anybody went on the terrace. Reasons? Most of them had an acrophobia. Another most of them were bored with a sight. And maybe about 5% were sensitive to the air pollution. What group does Lavi belong in?

Stretch. Stretch. Stretch.

The unusual sounds came from the neighboring apartment. The 543. Lavi tried to recall the talk with the new receptionist, Lenalee. She said something about occupied room 543. Did she say when? '_About 17:30, before my drunk-arrival'_ there was an answer. Did she say by who it was occupied? Recall. Recall. Recall. '_Duh, she didn't_' no answer provided. He was really curious about the person, after all, he was LIVING in ROOM 543. '_Good Lord, what am I? I don't care what's happening out there!_'

Hit. Stretch. Hit. Stretch. One-two-one-two-one-two.

'Well... I guess a little peek won't hurt' said the dark side.

'Are you out of your mind? It's as equal as being a stalker!' said the white side.

'It's not! What is wrong in looking at someone, who's living in a house of the assassination?'

'Curiosity is a first step to Hell'

'Curiosity is a first step to Wisdom'

'_Will you two just shut the hell up?_' Lavi shook his head. '_Geez, I'm hearing voices due to my headache..._' He placed himself near the wall and tried to look through a little hole to see the source of unusual sounds.

Hit. Hit. Hit. Hit. Hit.

The person was exercising. It seemed he was into martial arts, as he hit frequently a plastic bag and made a lot of kicks in the air. 'IS IT AN OLD MAN!?' to Lavi's terror the person was quite small and had a white hair. 'It can't be! He's moving like all heroes in movies!' the redhead was astonished by fast movements, flexible dodges (he's dodging? From what?) and seemingly powerful punches. '_Incredible... I haven't seen something like that for ever..._'. Excitement, that feeling was holding Lavi while watching an extraordinary "old man". '_I wonder what is he like?_' The only view that he had was "old man's" back. The person picked up a chair and put it in front of him.

*Sigh*

The white-haired grabbed backrest and with a quick, unhesitating movement he jumped. Right now, the person was above the chair, upside down, right hand holding a seat, left hand holding his back. He started to do push-ups. REALLY FAST.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13... 43,44,45,46,47,48,49...

The redhead was enchanted. He forgot about the beautiful morning. He forgot about the beautiful city's view from 48th floor. He even forgot how to breath for a moment (fortunately, a lack of oxygen had alarmed the boy before he could suffocate).

...120,121,122,123,124,125,126...

Only 30 seconds passed.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" The white man stopped and looked around, probably utterly shocked. Lavi put his hands on his mouth and jumped away from the wall. What had he done!? '_What have I done!?'_ He slapped his face with a healthy hand and mumbled a few things, similar to "You're ABSOLUTELY great, idiot!" or "Now I'm gonna be treated like a stalker...".

_But what was that...I can't describe it. That person... That old man cast a spell on me or something! Is he even a human!? Can a normal human do something like that!? It was like... WOW! Big WOW! I've never seen such a thing in my entire life! Hom much training does it require!? How much patience!? How much will!? I wonder what kind of a person is that old man? Probably really active! But what if he's grumpy, just like other old men? O god, god, god, god, I have to know his martial arts' secrets! I want to do the same!_

_Wait..._

_Something is wrong... I hear no counting..._

_..._

_He stopped?!_

Lavi run to the wall and peeked. There was no sign of the white-haired person! Lavi sighed in disappointment. '_I wonder if I scared him away?_' The redhead sat on the floor, covering his face with his right hand. Of course, he couldn't forget about the left one, the pain wasn't very forgettable. Pain... Pain... Physical pain... '_God, I need to do something with it or I'll go crazy!_' he rubbed his palm gently. That was useless... He unwrapped the palm from the toilet paper. It looked horrible...

"Bloody hell! Is there everything alright with you, sir!?" He looked up and to the left. Behind the wall, near the balustrade the white-haired "old man" was standing. Lavi stared at him a while, not being able to say a word. '_What the... His... Face... Isn't... Old._' the "old man" had a pure, pale face, without any deformations or furrows (well, something was wrong with the left side of his face, but Lavi was too far to see). Gray eyes were full of concern about redhead's bleeding hand. '_Is... he even an adult? He looks so... teen-age..._'.

"Ummm... Good morning..." the white-haired boy blinked in surprise as the redhead had spoken.

"G-good morning?" the white replied. Lavi snapped out of his trance with a little help of his hurting palm. '_Oh God, I'm going to bite it off!_' Lavi gritted his teeth and held his hand tighter. The neighbor disappeared. '_Umm... It might sound a little bit off, but... Was I just hallucinating? Stupid, deceitful hangover!_' he hit his head against the wall. Headache. Not only inside, but outside his skull too. Another hit. '_Stop thinking about hand!_' another hit.

"Oh JESUS!" he run his fingers through his forehead and saw blood. "Oh fuck! What the hell is wrong with me!?" Now he has to deal with a headache, with a cut on his hand and with a head damage.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

_Furious knocking... My head is going to explode!_

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

In order to stop this noise he rushed towards the door and opened them roughly.

"Sir, are you ok?!" The white-haired boy appeared again. Lavi stood still, mouth and eyes wide opened. The boy had waited for reaction from redhead's side, but all he heard was a wind blowing from room's 544 opened window.

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Whether you're angry or depressed

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 3: Whether you're angry or depressed...~~~~~~~~~~

_What a weird person, he's not even responding. Is he on drugs or something?_

*Wave, wave*

That was something unexpected for Lavi. The hangover's illusion was currently standing in front of him, trying to get a reply from the redhead. He was so close, that every feature was clearly to see for Lavi. The person was probably around 15-19, but the white color of his hair made him mistake the boy for an old man. The eyes were gray, the left eye had a very noticeable blemish: it was a huge scar, starting from his forehead and going down to his cheek. On the top of the mark there was a star. 'Is it also a part of the scar!?' White haired boy felt a little bit uncomfortable under redhead's gaze. His face expressed it clearly.

_What the hell I'm staring at!? _

"Aaah… Hi…"

"Umm... Hello... I wondered if… OH MY GOD, SIR, YOUR HEAD IS BLEEDING!"

"Huh?" Lavi responded half-consciously '_Of course my head is bleeding! Please, show me, what a normal person would hit his head on the wall as hard that he could almost break his skull? I'm not a good example, because I'm not normal!_' "Oh yeah... a little accident..." he spoke.

"We have to treat it! Also your hand! Do you have any medical things?"

"No, I don't"

"Please, wait here!" The boy went to his apartment and came back with a box, full of medicines, bandages and other medical stuff. Lavi was still standing at the door, blocking the white-haired's way to room 544. "May I come in?"

"Oh sure, yeah..." He let the stranger come in and followed him to the kitchen. Everything was moving so... quickly, his brain couldn't keep up with his movements. In one second he sat on the chair, showed hand to the boy and exposed his head damage.

"Ok, this may hurt a little, but please bear with it" the boy picked up tweezers and caught a piece of glass with them. One quick movement and...

"FUCK!" the redhead violently moved back his hand, splashing himself with blood from just-opened cut. '_If I had known it would hurt that badly, I wouldn't have done anything with it_' Lavi's expression made the boy scared, as he searched for a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (not a pleasant way to disinfect wounds) . He grabbed redhead's hurting palm and poured some of the medicine. It didn't help the situation. "OH GOD! OH FUCK, IT FUCKING HURTS, WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!?"

There was a moment of silence.

Lavi's angry face countered with the white haired boy's shocked and afraid eyes. Yet, the guest had stayed calm. He stood up and took the box, from which he pulled out some plasters, bandages, gauze swabs and painkillers. The boy smiled politely and left firstly the kitchen, then the apartment. Redhead looked at the whole situation. He calmed himself quickly as he realized what he had done a moment ago. He sat, hid his face with a still-healthy palm and lost himself in his thoughts.

_Yeah... I guess I should be given an award for The Nicest and Most Thankful person in the world. What the hell am I doing? It's not hangover's fault anymore. That person, THAT AMAZING PERSON, tried to help me! There was my outburst, our silence... and his smile. Why the hell he smiled!? It wasn't a happy situation! He did it from politeness? Or thought that I'm retarded? Or pathetic? He should have said something like "If it really bothers you that much, then go to hell!" and, I dunno, smack me (I wouldn't like to be smacked by a person, who knows martial arts...) or spit on me, or whatever is good to show his discontent! I don't get it..._

Lavi looked at the table and sighed. He took all the medical things and went to the bathroom. '_Should I forget about it?_' Firstly, he put one gauze swab on the bleeding hand's cut and wrapped it tightly in bandages '_Should I be sorry and apologize?_' Secondly, he wet a gauze swab number two and washed away the blood from forehead's damage. '_Should I not care about it?_' Next, he put the third gauze swab on his forehead and sticked a plaster to hold it. '_I guess I should leave it._' Finally, he swallowed two pills from painkillers' box.

_Oh god, I feel so good... Even the hangover is disappearing... I feel so calm, I barely feel any pain..._

_Why do I feel so guilty?_

He closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. It was the second day of rest.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIII-!

Darkness. Silence.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIII-!

Darkness. Silence. Some whining. Some wriggle. More whining. Standing up. Reaching for the receiver.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIII- "Uuuhhh, y'elo?" _Goodbye my blissful dreams!_

"Lavi, you fool! How much do I have to wait for your answer" _Gramps, aren't calls from other continent hell expensive? Not only calling, but also answering the phone?_

"Isn't more comfortable to leave the message?" _You've been doing that so far , haven't you?_

"This time I have to talk to you. It's a really serious case." _That's something odd._

"Well then, go ahead."

"You've lost your job, didn't you?" _ I would like to know how that message reached Egypt..._

"Yes, I have So what?"

"You'd better find another one, because I need money!"

_...huh?_

"Excuse me?" _He's bloody rich, he has two houses and 2 cars and he's saying HE NEEDS MONEY!?_

"I won't repeat myself. I need money so I can come back home."

"But why?"

"You don't need to know" _Let's trust each other, shall we!?_

"I do need to know! What the hell happened!?"

"Watch your mouth, Lavi! I ran out of money yesterday and I'll be stuck here, unless you send me some money, so I can buy a ticket, so I can come home." _He can't be serious! _"I'm going to tell you the address, so get yourself a pen and paper!"

"I have it" _This is really fucked up. He's in a foreign country, in a foreign continent, and broke! What had he done with his money!? And how the hell am I supposed to write __Al-Mahalla al-Kubra!? _"Alright, I've got it"

"Send me 500$ tomorrow."

"But then I won't have enough money to live, gramps. I've lost my job, remember?"

"That's why I'm saying you have to find a new one!" _It's easy to say than to do. You're the one who's retired, not me. Today finding a job is like finding a nugget of gold in the river._

"Ehh... Ok, when you get the money and buy your ticket, call me and I'll be waiting for you at the airport."

"You fool, I won't come back to this crappy skyscraper, I'm going to my own residence." _Bring me down more, you're really good at it._

"But haven't you just said, that you'll come back home?" _Home is where your family lives, right?_

"Your apartment is not my home, it's yours. My home is in a peaceful countryside, where there is no noise, no rush and no annoying persons..." _...living with you. _"I'll be living in Hewood as soon as I come back. Now, I have to end, remember to send me the money!"

Click! Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Yeah, take care too..." Lavi put the receiver back.

It was a really crazy situation. Crazy and depressing. He sat on the couch and looked at the piece of paper with the address written on it._ 'I have only 640$ left. After sending 500$ to Panda-gramps I'll have only 140$ left. It'll be enough for bills and other taxes for the next month. But what about food?' _He scratched the back of his head as the brainstorm became unbearable. He felt the headache was coming back. _'I guess tomorrow will be very busy' _He looked at cocktail cabinet, wondering if there's any alcohol left. He stood up and opened the cabinet's doors. '_Wow, I've never expected some of sherry left. I guess one glass won't hurt' _Lavi recalled all scenes from today's morning and some scenes from yesterday's evening. _'Yeah, ONLY ONE glass of sherry won't hurt' _He poured some liquid and went to the terrace to enjoy a view of the evening in his city.

_'Huh, it's cool outside. I'd better put a cardigan on me. I don't want to have a cold before searching for a job, do I?'_

The sight was very peaceful and had a different beauty than the morning version. Buildings weren't very visible to him, but the lights from apartments' windows, houses, street lamps, moving vehicles gave an interesting picture. A calming picture, which prepares whole city to fall asleep. '_But it won't fall asleep, it'll always be alive. It's not a mere human like we all._' Lavi took a sip from the wine glass and came back to looking at the view. He wanted to find a will to enjoy the time, but he couldn't. He couldn't get over after the talk with gramps. If he was stupid enough, he would probably do the same thing like yesterday, but he had his lesson. No more mindless drinking. One glass is enough. Not enough to erase his mental pain, but still...

_He's not thinking about me as a family anymore. I'm more like a nuisance to him. I'd better get used to being alone and do everything on my own._

He sighed, clueless of what to do next. It was the late evening, he had been sleeping for whole day and probably wouldn't be sleeping whole night, yet he had to, because tomorrow he'd be looking for a job... He ran his fingers through his red hair and looked down. He was like 100 or 200 meters above the ground. Falling from such a height would be a pleasant experience... before hitting the ground, which probably wouldn't be that nice. When Lavi was younger, he thought about falling from the balcony many times, now the idea was really disgusting.

_Yet flying in the sky isn't a bad idea. I just have to be born as a bird in my next life._

He laughed at himself. Firstly he had to get old to think about the next life. The redhead really wanted to live his life to the very end, though he would like to do it in a better environment, have more possibilities of living. He really wanted to live.

"C'est la vie" he smiled sadly and took another sip of sherry. The glass was half-empty.

"Vous êtes déprimé, n'est-ce pas?" Lavi jumped in shock, almost releasing his glass from his hand, and looked around. The source of French was the white haired boy, standing on the terrace of room 543, who was looking at the redhead with a smile on his face and a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Uhh... Excuse me?" He only knew a sentence 'This is the life' in French and maybe some bad words, but any other French was a big mystery for him (yet he liked the sound of this language). The boy laughed a little/

"You're depressed, aren't you?" he translated. "Well, I guess today was a little bit hard for you, with your hand and forehead, but I hope everything is alright." Lavi's eyes widened. He had never expected someone to be concerned about him. Well, not right now, actually. "Does it still hurt?"

"Oh no, no, I feel pretty good." he waved his treated hand to prove he's fine. "Actually, I..." he gathered his thoughts "...I acted pretty stupid today, I shouldn't-"

"Don't worry about it." the boy smiled as he interrupted the redhead's apology. Lavi tried to figure out, whether the person lied to him or was very kind. "It would have been stupid of me, if I had let it be."

"Thanks for that" Lavi gave a thankful smile. '_The guilt... had gone away..._'

RIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIING!

"Oh my, the phone." the white haired turned around. "Excuse me, I've got to go." He smiled politely and headed towards the phone. "Goodnight, sir." He'd gone.

"Goodnight."

_And I didn't have time to catch his name..._

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~_  
_


	4. Misery won't last forever

**AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM! Ag-ro-tag**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 4: Malchance ne durera pas éternellement~~~~~~~~~~

MISERY WON'T LAST FOREVER

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48****th**** floor. Room 544. Living room.**

Beeeeeep. Beeeeeep. Beeeeeep. Beeeeep. Beee- "Uhm, hello? ... Yuu, are you on the phone? ... Well listen, there's a-...What time is now? About 8.35 a.m., why? ... Uh, don't shout, don't shout! Sorry, don't be mad! ... It's not that early, ya kn- WAH, I'M SORRY! ... Alright, I owe you one, forgive me? You know, how much I love y- SORRY! ... Heh, you're energetic as ever. Listen I need some help. That stupid fatass kicked me out two days ago, I need a part-time quickly, do y- ... But it wasn't a big deal, I actually thought of quiting it! I'm fine with it. ... Yeah, so do you know any well-pay available? ... Yeah. ... yeah, I get it ... What do I have to!? ... Where!? ... You're kidding me? ... Oh, I've misheard, my bad. ... Yeah, I'll be there, I only have to drop by the post office. ... Nothing, really. ... Alright, thanks Yuu, you're saving my ass. ... But your name is so cute! It's a gift to be named like you, Yuu!" Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. "Huh? Hello? Hello, Yuu, are you there? Yuu?"

_Well, I guess I'm gonna be a waiter... Good things: high salary, exclusive restaurant, not so demanding job. Bad things: REALLY FAR HELL AWAY, I need to know any more languages than English... I don't have any cash for courses or tutorship! Gaaaah, what should I do? Maybe someone could teach me. Yuu is Japanese so… No, calling him now wouldn't be a wise idea…_

CRACK! BANG!

The noise came out from the neighboring apartment 543. Lavi looked at clock and sighed.

_It's cleaning time._

"Es tut mir leid!! Vergib mir!!" At 8 o'clock everyday all chambermaids started cleaning all apartments. 48th floor's turn was between 8.40 to 9.00. Lavi really didn't mind it, but there was one problem: every Thursday there was a maid, which couldn't do even one thing right. She was from Germany and rarely does someone in America know German, so she was always babbling and crying and screaming weird words as she dropped plates or broke vase. That's why Lavi always didn't allow her to enter his room.

"Es tut mir leid! Es tut mir wirklich Lied, Herr Walker!" Curiosity again overwhelmed redhead as he went to the terrace to have a better access of hearing . _'I wonder if he throw her out or shout at her? He probably doesn't understand anything she's saying.' _

Shrr. Shrr. Shrr.

Lavi heard a sound of gathering the broken glass. They probably were once a beautiful vase or figure.

"Ich werde bezahlen." Woman's voice indicated that she was near bursting out crying.

"Nein, bitte, machen Sie sich Keine Sorgen, Frau Miranda! Es spielt keine Rolle!" Now that was unexpected for Lavi. _'He knows French already and now I'm hearing him speaking German!? What else this guy can do!?' _"Danke!Wir sehen uns nächste Woche!" He hear soft woman's sobs as the neighbour tried to calm her down. She had mumbled something to him before leaving. "Ich wünsche Ihnen einen schönen Tag!" he closed the door.

Click!

*Sigh*

"Now what should I do? Master won't be pleased with this…" the boy entered his terrace and found the redhead's head behind the wall. "Ohh... G-Good morning, sir!" Lavi's face colored with embarrassment as he was noticed. _'Hasn't papa told you that eavesdropping is a really bad thing?'_ "Good morning to you too! Eh, I was, some kind, disturbed by the noise from your room, so I just... Well..."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Had it bothered you? I know it's quite early, but I really didn't mean to!" His gray eyes were very apologetic. Lavi smiled the apology away, assuring him that nothing happened and everything is ok. The white haired boy's naive, but kind, personality reminded Lavi of an innocent child, who do everything best to make his parents proud of him, who has a huge curiosity for the world, who tells everything what's in his mind, without a shadow of lie. _'No, there is no way an adult would keep that kind of purity, there is always something behind that kind-smiling face...' _The redhead wasn't very trustful, his life experience made him not count on people. Well, not always, sometimes they're very useful, but those were rare exceptions. Today a complete stranger can claim himself as Lavi's best friend, tomorrow he can change into Lavi's greatest enemy, not giving him a moment to breathe.

_'It's better not to create any bonds, than to do it so and regret it later.'_

"So how could you handle with Unlucky Miranda?"He had a chance to talk with the white guy again, so before the one could leave, he had started the conversation.

" **Unlucky **Miranda?" his tone of voice deepened a little. Probably the person didn't admire the nickname for a clumsy chambermaid.

"She's the onliest maid, that has broken something in every apartment at least once. People's reactions were different of course, but most of them shouted at her, threw her out or complained at her in director's office. She's practically **useless,** nobody understands her, she's doing everything wrong and cries pathetically." Lavi turned his face to see neighbour's face. The expression was a mix of offense, irritation and confusion. _'That's something new, normally people would burst out laughing at the maid or say she's really pathetic.' _"Children living here made up this nickname, Unlucky Miranda, because they believe her fate will be as **miserable** as present. Quite silly, isn't it?"

"More stupid, but well, those are just kids." The boy leaned himself on the balustrade. Lavi took it as a sign, that he would stay here longer, for sure. "But I don't really think it's only children's imagination."

"You mean adults affected it too?"

"Yes, for example..." He turned himself completely to Lavi. "You, sir, just called her Unlucky Miranda. Isn't it some sort of supporting the theory, that she IS **pathetic**?" The redhead glanced with amazement. Right now he was accused for indirect tormenting? There was no way he did it, and even if he does, why should he care about strangers? Especially clumsy ones?

_'No bonds, no regrets. Oh, how simple is it!'_

"More of a habit than a support." He said bluntly. "Everybody calls her like that."

"Well, everybody, except me." _'This conversation goes bad... Can't he just leave it?'_

"It's your life, it's your decision, nobody forces you to anything." _'People do as they please, they don't care if it hurts others.'_

"But what about the tormented person? He also has his life, he also has his decision and I bet he hadn't decided to be miserable forever?" _'Wow, you should become a philosopher. Or psychologist. Or a very wise person. GET REAL!'_

"People change people themselves. If you want them to stop, then you'll have to modify over 6 billion personalities only for a one mere human." _'It's bad, I'm getting mentally sucked by that guy! His thinking is too idealistic...'_

"Well, I guess you're right, Sir..." He bowed his head with defeat. "...but still, I think some people don't deserve to have a miserable life..."

The Silence welcomed the space between Lavi and the white boy. It observed both men and was waiting to be broken. It could hear their thoughts, but couldn't hear their voices. The white one was disappointed with the humanity, which was stick on the rule: "Only the strongest are alive, go to hell with the weak.". The red one was... saddened. Was he miserable? The Silence looked in the redhead's mind to find out what was bothering him.

_'Some people don't deserve to have a miserable life...'_

Before the Silence could mess up with red's brain, it felt a big pain as Lavi spoke.

"What is a miserable life?" he asked the sky, not paying any attention to how pseudo-philosophical the question sounded or how a normal person would react on unexpected sentence. He could hear a shy, yet sad, chuckle from his right side.

And heard a barely audible answer. Before Lavi could comment on that sentence the boy had politely excused himself as he left the terrace.

"Something, that probably none of us wants to experience..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Yes, of course I'll be able to learn it soon! I won't disappoint you! Thank you very much!"

Lavi left the restaurant "L'Ordre Noire", where he ended his job interview successfully, gaining a new employment. _'It's 1 hour and a half here by bus, but I don't care, It's worth the money I'll get! Today Lavi Bookman has a wonderful mood! I'm glad to know that the world loves me. Sometimes.' _He headed towards the bus station with a big smile on his face. He'd never expected to find a job so quickly. And so easily! After all he wasn't fully qualified, he didn't know any foreign language, but the boss, Mr. Komui, said it'll be fine for now. _'But I have to learn it, no matter what. I wonder which one I should take up?' _Of course, he was slighter in money (because he send it to his grandpa in too-hard-to-write-and-say town in Egypt), so thinking about tutorship wasn't a good idea. _'Maybe I should make some kind of an advertisement? Needed a tutor of foreign languages for a 20-year-old man, who has been learning only English during his entire life. Any language welcomed. Opened for intensive __curriculum. Expecting a reliable, responsible, patient, no stiff, slightly demanding person. Payment between 6-8$ per hour 4 times a week (after school summer break only twice a week). Contact: Lavi Bookman, The Glorious Street, Skyscraper "13", Room 544; Telephone: XXXXXXX. Thank you for any consideration.'_

SEND.

Click!

_'Good thing that the Internet Cafe is near my bus stop. Fuck, I've lost 2 dollars for it...'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_'Nooooo, that surely was a lame idea! I shouldn't have publish it! Stupid advert!' _Lavi thought after putting down telephone receiver, through which he talked with a young female-tutor, who accepted all conditions... except a payment... _'Guh... I knew it wouldn't work...6$, what is it? Just for one hour? Only someone desperate would agree for such terms...I wonder if I knew any languages, would I apply for being a tutor for only 6$ per hour?...' _Lavi laid on the couch and looked at the ceiling. _'Hello, Mr. Crack, I thought if you could teach me the Crackish language. After all we've been living together for... for ever?' _A few seconds passed by as he imagined the possible answer from crack. _'You know, you idiot, talking to a dead object isn't quite smart... Get your ass up and start teaching yourself before I'll smack whole building on your head and-'_

Knock-knock! Knock-knock!

"Huh? That's strange, I don't remember having a guest or anything..." Lavi got up and went to open the door.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Bookman."

_'No... freaking... way?' _The white haired boy was standing in front of Lavi, holding all kinds of books of foreign languages, face brightened with a smile.

"Ah..." _'This is all I have to say!?'_

"I have just read your ad on advertisement's website and I would like to know if the position is still available?'

"I, ahh... I guess so?"

"Great! Then I'd like to teach you any foreign language that you want. From now on I'll be your tutor" He pulled his han in front of Lavi in a polite gesture. "I'm Allen Walker."

_'Nice name...'_

"Uh... Lavi Bookman." He shook hands with Allen. "Are you sure you want to work for... that small salary?"

"Oh, it's fine with me! I actually don't need any payment. " _'What is he... a volunteer?' _"I've almost forgot to tell you, sir, about it." He gave a cheerful smile. Lavi wasn't sure anymore, believe that guy or not? It's impossible for such a person to be so... nice? He must have a purpose! _'Or it's just me being paranoiac?' _Redhead smiled back at the boy.

"That's a nice thing to hear. The only thing left is working hours."

"Oh, I don't think it's needed. Most of my time I'm at home, so if you want a lesson, then all you have to do is to knock at my door or call from the terrace, I'll surely be there"

_'No... It's too perfect...'_

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Mr. Bookman"

"Just call me Lavi."

_'Too perfect... that I'm not used to it...'_

~~~~~~~~~~END OF THE CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**AG-RO-TAG NOTE!!!**

**OK, guys, I hadn't bothered you through last two chapters, but I guess I need to annoy you now ^^**

**Listen, I KNOW THAT YOU'RE READING IT! I actually got some notes to my mailbox about favorites. THANK YOU FOR IT ^^**

**But there's also a request. Please, please, please, REVIEW! I don't care if comment would be like "Nice." or "It's good." because every comment is a proof to me, that my story actually is good to your tastes!**

**And yeah, I've finally uncovered "the white haired boy's" name xD I really tried to find a convenient time to do it so, I really didn't want to do it like in the beginning of the story:**

**Lavi: I'm Lavi!**

**Allen: And I'm Allen!**

**It's just too plain .**

**But leave it, there's another thing: translation of Miranda and Allen's German conversation. I hadn't put it right next to the sentences, cause it would ruin everything! Instead of that I'd rather put it here:**

**CRACK!**

**Miranda: I'm so sorry! Forgive me! I'm so sorry! I feel so bad, Mr. Walker! **

**Shrr. Shrr. Shrr.**

**Miranda: I'll pay for it.**

**Allen: Oh no, don't worry about it, Miss Miranda! It reallt doesn't matter. Thank you! See you in next week! I wish you Good Day!  
**

**I used .com, so there are possible mistakes -_-**

**Ahh, I don't think I have to translate "L'Ordre Noire"? Well, it's just "The Black Order" in French, I though it sounded prettier. It's because I love French language xD I hope I'll start courses soon!**

**I guess that's all? See you in the next chapter!**


	5. The Book of Your Personality

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 5: THE BOOK OF YOUR PERSONALITY~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you want maybe start a lesson now?" Allen Walker, teen-age looking, white haired boy just a moment ago became Lavi Bookman's private tutor of French. He was a FREE private tutor, a really rare "thing" to meet. _'Today for free you have to pay...' _The redhead scratched the back of his head and gave a thoughtful..

*Sigh*

"Well, I guess I'm okay with this." He looked suspiciously at eternal-smiling boy "I'll check if you really are a good tutor."

"Oh, if you'll have any doubts or think, that my way of teaching is bad, then please, Sir, inform me and I'll make sure to do everything right!"

"Heh, no need to be so formal!" Lavi gave a wide smile. "Come in, we'll go to the living room." He moved himself so the guest could come inside the apartment. Allen thanked him and entered the room. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Oh, a cup of tea if you don't mind." Red one nodded and disappeared to prepare one tea and one coffee. While there was no presence of the resident, Allen analyzed the room 544's interior. The room was quite simple, there was a medium-large table in the middle of the room, placed near the couch and one armchair, both of them in caramel color. Also there was a small wardrobe, a cocktail cabinet, nearly-dying plant (probably once it was a healthy, beautiful pelargonium) and a small TV. Yes, simplicity was probably a main motive of designing the room. But still, it wasn't... really normal. The most characteristic thing of the place was... _'He has so many books and newspapers here...' _He looked with curiosity at the nearest pile of books and took one _'They're not even dusty, though they seem to lay here like forever. Could he be a bookworm?' _He took one form the top and read the title. _'Hm... I guess it's something connected with the History of America. And that one?' _He took another one. _'The History of Art? I wonder if he could lend it to me? I guess no...' _He stroked the book's cover and tried to figure out what kind of a person might his new student be. Since he likes books, maybe sensitive? Also he may be clever, most of them are historic. He glanced at room once again. I was quite simple, almost lifeless. Maybe he's a loner? Or have no time to take care of home, a very busy person? There was no pictures on the walls and the plant is probably begging for the end (or for a water). _'Yeah, definitely a loner type.' _He opened the book and went quickly through chapter about the ancient Greece.

"You like that one?" Allen jumped in shock and quickly left the book to its previous place.

"I'm sorry, it was really impolite of me! I should have asked for the permission."

"Don't worry about it. It's me, who left it behind." the redhead put two cups on the table.

"You, Sir, seem to love reading books. There are lots of them in your room."

"Yeah." Lavi felt a little bit uncomfortable as the topic was his interests. "Let's go to the lesson, shall we?"

"Of course, Sir. We'll-" Allen was suddenly distracted by Lavi's risen hand, as he wanted to say something. "Erm... Yes?"

"I've got to complain. You're doing one thing wrong." Allen froze and tried to recall what kind of thing he had done to the man.

"Um... I'm sorry, but what have I done?" Lavi closed the space between them and with a serious expression he spoke.

"Do. Not. Call. Me. SIR." Lavi made a little pout, but then chuckled as he saw the white's confused/shocked/surprised face. "I don't like it, it makes me feel so ooold. I know I'm not that young, but hey, I still have a young spirit! Let's just call each other by our names, ok?" _'Since when have I been so... forward? Maybe since forever, but I guess there weren't many occasions to be like that.'_

"I, uhh... Alright, Sir- I mean... Lavi?" Allen analyzed the sound of neighbour's name. I was more comfortable to say it, than all those polite terms and names. _'Though he might be a loner I think he's a good material for a really social person.' _He smiled and was given a smile as they started the first lesson of French.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One hour turned to three. Lavi found out, that Allen was a really good teacher. He explained him everything clearly, gave very reasonable exercises and corrected all his mistakes. Undoubtedly, that way was the best way to learn French quickly.

"I guess it's all for today, it's not good to overwork your brain." Allen started to gather his things. "You have a pretty good memory. I've expected you to have more difficulties with all those words."

"Well, I it's just a good side of me." Lavi joked while helping with French books.

_'That was somehow... a nice spent time.' _Lavi didn't like the idea of being alone in his apartment. Again.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

6 p.m.

_'Oh, it's that time? It sure went fast...'_

"Alright, I'm leaving. See you tomorrow and don't forget about the homework!" Allen bowed his head.

"Yeah, thanks for today." Lavi said it... a little bit sadly. His mental persona took a temporal control as he didn't want to be alone. But he didn't dared to stop the boy, after all he had done very much today. For free. "Um...Sorry Allen, but..." He tried to do something, which could lengthen the guest's visit. Allen turned around with a questioning look. "Are you sure it's fine with you to do it for free?"

"Completely." he replied calmly.

"But maybe there's something I could give you in return?" He felt a little guilty for using the boy without any chance to show his gratitude. Allen shook his head. _'That was expected.' _Lavi thought for a while and then his look stuck at the book, which the boy was holding. _'The History_ _of Art, huh? I bet he would like to borrow it' _"Maybe you'd be interested in one of my books?"

Allen's eyes brightened. "I can pick one?" Lavi nodded and and picked up the earlier mentioned book. He watched the white's eyes.

"Every, except this one." He showed 'The History of Art' to the boy. As expected his eyes darkened with disappointment as the hope of borrowing the book faded away. Allen wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Lavi's unusual laugh. Even mental redhead was surprised by his own action. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I know you want to have this one."

_'He knew from the beginning?'_

_'I wonder how I figured him out?'_

"That's really nice of you. Thank you very much." His spirit was cheerful again as he was handed the dreamed book. He looked at Lavi. His face was brightened with a smile, both eyes closed, white teeth blinking, hair messed. He surely looked better than he had been in the morning.

"I think you have to go. It's kinda late." he said. Reluctantly, but said. Allen looked at the clock. It wasn't that late, only 6.12 p.m. He didn't actually wanted to go, knowing that he would be sitting in his apartment and doing nothing. Looking at Lavi he resumed the men also wasn't pleased with his departure. He went to the door. Redhead followed him.

"I'm going then." Allen turned around.

"So, goodbye, Allen." Lavi shook white's hand.

"Goodbye." Allen took a few steps to the room 543 and vanished behind them.

*Sigh*

_'I guess I should clean this place once in a while.' _Lavi looked around. He didn't much care about his apartment. It was spacious, simple... plain? It was the only place, where he could leave his books freely. Why he didn't keep his house clean? He didn't have many visitors. _'I'll do it... after a little drink.' _He headed towards his cocktail cabinet. With a drink he went to the terrace, probably to do what he did usually: look at the view of the city. He would do this, for sure, but there was a one problem. Something out of usual...

"Oh, you came here, after all." Allen greeted his neighbour as the one reached his balustrade.

"Well, it's something normal for me." Lavi took a sip. "Though it's abnormal to talk with someone while being."

"Especially a neighbour?" Allen laughed. "Well, talking to someone is a natural way of communication between human and human. Think of how the world would be like if none of humans would speak to each other."

_'No talking means no relationships. That would be probably very hollow... But ain't I the one, who don't want to have any bonds?'_

"It means that while talking to you some kind of relationship is born..." Lavi thought loudly. He took another sip and looked at Allen. He probably enjoyed the view of the evening. He didn't pay any attention to Lavi or to his earliest sentence.

"Being closed in those four walls is kinda boring. Especially when you live by yourself. Don't you think?" Lavi was shocked by the question. _'He's also living alone? Or is he just testing me?' _"It's nice to talk not only with yourself."

_'Ok, that was weird..."_

"Some people get used to it, it's not a big deal." Quick thinking. "What about you?"

"Heh... Sorry for my language, but it kinda sucks..." Allen forced a laugh. _'So he IS living alone. I think I understand that guy. Not that I would be worried or something!' _Lavi proposed a silent toast to all loners of the world and took a final sip. "Umm... Lavi, are you going to do something particular in a moment?" He looked at redhead's glass, worried that the men might just go to apartment due to lack of alcohol.

"Well... Honestly, no."

"So what will you do?" The uncomfortable feeling came back. Maybe because of not being a topic of someone's interest he felt that way. _'I'd probably read a book from my mountain of books, make some tea, lay on the couch, talk with Mr. Crack and wonder how to get some sleep. Quite a nice plan, don't you think so?'._

"Probably nothing." That was true too. He would just go away, normally, at the moment he said that, but Allen's companionship wasn't annoying (unlike the other people's, who Lavi had met so far). Maybe because unconsciously he was seeking for someone? "Why you're asking?"

"I've just wondered..." Allen stopped, hesitation heard in his voice. "I thought that... maybe you could visit my place from time to time? We're neighbours, it would be nice to know each other better." Last sentence was said really nervously, it shook Lavi for a moment. The uncomfortable Silence came. Again. But not for long this time. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. You barely know me, so..." Allen ran his hand through his face, motions observed by the redhead. "Nevermind."

"It's okay." Lavi gave a comforting smile. "I'll be going." He went out from the terrace, leaving Allen alone. He sat on the couch, thinking about sudden invitation. '_He's right, I barely know him. But also he barely knows me! Is it alright for him to invite me just like that? Isn't he afraid, that I might be a hyper-psychopath with an eternal blood lust? ... He knows how to fight, so I think it's not he matter... Maybe he feels lonely? Maybe... oh come on! No more rhetorical questions!' _He looked at empty glass and put on the table. _'The right question is: what do I want to do now?'_ he asked himself. The time passed by...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Knock-knock! Knock-knock!

"Huh? Who might it be?" he thought loudly, putting down his book.

Knock-knock! Knock-knock!

"Moment! I'm coming!" He stand up from his couch and headed towards doors.

Knock-knock!

He opened them and stood, surprised. A few seconds had passed before he gave a big smile to Lavi. The smile was returned, of course.

"I hadn't had anything particular to do." The redhead scratched his head nervously, in a thought of intruding the white.

"I assume then, that a little company is needed?" Allen moved back, so Lavi could enter the room 543.

_'He knew from the beginning?'_

_'It wasn't hard to figure him out.'_

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~


	6. My soul, you're strangling it!

**REVIEW PLEASE! AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 6: My soul, you're strangling it!~~~~~~~~~~

'_What forced me to go there? Why didn't I act like always? So many questions welcomed my mind, so many explanations and none of them is fully right. It could be his personality. It could be his point of view. It could be the first impression, that he gave me two days ago. It could be everything. And nothing.'_

"Do you have the purpose?"

'_I entered his apartment nervously. He lived in room 543, the most famous room in whole city, if not country. There was a tragedy. Two persons killed in a horrible way. A just-married couple. I wonder if they had been planning their future together, before someone took their life? Had they wanted to have a baby? Had they wanted to build their own house on the countryside, where they would grow old and entertain their grandchildren? Had they wanted to die old?'_

"The purpose? What kind of purpose?"

'_The news had alerted: "Today, 27__th__ of March, corpses of a young couple were found in the skyscraper "13" in room 543. The culprit still hasn't been found. The police are trying to catch him. We advise you a better caution, until the murder is caught". Since that time everyone had been avoiding this room like avoiding fire. No one had been living there for 4 months.'_

"You know, the one of your life. The aim, the reason, the subject of your devotion. It makes you feel fulfilled, makes you want to live and you'll do everything to keep it safe, protect if it's needed."

'_The room had a blemish. The blemish of death. Everyone was afraid that the couple's misfortune may find new preys. The 543 was cursed. Was cursed by people's opinion about it. If it was possible, probably everyone would exclude number 543. But it seems not everybody was afraid of it._

"I think I've understood, though… I don't know… I guess I'm not fond of anything or anybody."

'_It's the moment when he appears. He was the only one, who accepted this place. The one, who wanted to bring it back to life. He wanted to purify it from the signs of death. He wasn't like everyone else, too naive and __superstitious. "What, is it for real? I can't believe adults believe in such a thing!" His laugh is still echoing in my ears as he said that sentence. I've almost felt the spirit of the room being happier with every second. He wasn't stupid, he wasn't even brave. He was just normal. Normal, but extraordinary._

"So we have the same problem."

"How about trying to find one?"

"I've been doing it already."

'_I've decided something. I've decided to change myself. I won't sit and do nothing anymore. I won't pity myself anymore. I have to move forward. I know, I know, I won't be like that immediately. It's not a cartoon world, where everything is possible. It's a freaking reality!'_

"Let's find it together, it'll be easier."

'_Why is he so unreal? He shouldn't be like that. Politeness, honesty and a good heart – those things should be temporary! Not permanent. '_

"Alright… Let's give it a try."

'_Maybe there is a chance…'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48****th**** floor. Room 543. Living room.**

**6.36 p.m. - An hour and a half earlier.**

First minutes passed nervously in silence. Of course, there were some phrases said like "Would you like something to drink?" or "May I know where the bathroom is?". And another quiet moments.

"Is there a reason for why are you living alone?" Allen started all of sudden, bringing Lavi back to reality. He looked at the white with a surprise and suspicion.

"Yes...? For all actions there's a need to be a reason." Lavi said blankly as he took his cup of coffee. He really didn't want to answer properly. Does it even matter?

"I see." He smiled politely, though his face showed a little bit of disappointment. Probably because of Lavi's distrust. "Well, I moved here two days ago, as you've already noticed. I was supposed to live here with my Master, but instead of staying here he went to find another accommodation." _'Geez, I felt a big mental exhibitionism...'_

"Does it mean you won't be living here long?" _'...and now I think I'm starting to expose myself too...How sweet.'_

"Well see how long, but probably I won't be here forever."

"And... the reason?" Allen blinked in a happy surprise... _'I'm glad it interested him a little. But the reason... O my god...' ..._but after that he grabbed his forehead as if he were indicating a sudden headache. Redhead seemed surprised. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, okay... I've just recalled **the reason**..." _'No, you DO NOT look okay..'. _"Sorry, just thinking about my Master makes me a little bit... sick..." _'Is he THAT BAD?' ._"Master has a really... inconvenient, for me, habit. He is a big debts-gatherer. After he makes new enemies, we'll be forced to move somewhere else." _'I can almost see a storm cloud above his head...'_

"I see. That's quite... freaky. But it's better than getting... killed?" Lavi tried to cheer the boy up but putting his palm on Allen's shoulder with a comforting intention. The white haired smiled reassuringly. "So, how do you deal with those debts?". Allen glanced at him and snickered.

"It's a secret. You know, I have to be careful." _'Does it mean it's something illegal? My neighbour is a criminal?'_. "But maybe I'll let you know about it. One day." Allen's and Lavi's eyes met and were staring at each other for a minute. It was a test, whether the one or another will turn his gaze away. Lavi didn't like the feeling of being stared at, but also didn't want to make himself embarrassed. His look was deep. It was piercing through him like a cold blade. "Did you know, that eyes are considered as the window of your soul?" After a minute and three seconds white haired spoke. _'No wonder why my soul is now twisted to other directions. Did you know, that it doesn't like being watched?'. _His eyes were still at Allen's.

"Have heard something like that." Lavi was focused.

"Do you feel uncomfortably? Want me to stop?" _'YEAH, I feel HELL uncomfortably! But don't think I'll admit my defeat!' _Allen chuckled. Lavi was deadly determined.

"I'm fine with it. Please, continue." Redhead smiled provocatively. He actually started to enjoy the test. Allen caught this interest too.

"What do you want to know about me?" He took his tea and took a sip, but eyes' connection hadn't been broken. _'Ha! Now that I have his soul captured, he's going to tell me everything I want. Oh, such a power!' _The occasion was very convenient for him. He knew the rules: firstly he asks the question, then he's being asked. It was quite thought though, you have to think quickly about question and quickly answer, not turning down the gaze.

"How old are you?" Lavi started. He wanted to sound not so curious, but white's chuckle blew his hopes.

"I'm eighteen. Almost." the answer was fast. _'Should I feel ashamed, that my tutor is almost 3 years younger than me…?' _Redhead seemed to be shocked, which made the white laugh (but eyes still looking at eyes!). "Is your hand and head alright? No pain?" It was his turn. A very careful question was asked.

"Well, it hurts a little bit, but I'm feeling better. Thanks." Lavi smiled. _'It was rather banal…' _"What's with your hair? Are they bleached?" Allen shivered at question. From his expression Lavi could say, that the white wanted to look down, he was struggling. _'I guess I've hit something personal'._

"It's nothing, really." He knew lying wouldn't be a good idea, since he has been watched. "It has just been a reaction of my body to a… certain event. They're not bleached, it's now my natural color." _'Huh, he said it's NOW his color.' _New questions were born in Lavi's head, but he didn't want to ask them. Not right now. "Why do you drink alcohol every time I see you on the terrace?" _'SCORE! You've hit one of the most fragile points of my mental me'. _Now Lavi was struggling with the urge of breaking eye contact.

"It's some kind of… my habit?" Lavi tried to reduce his answer as much as it's possible. But then he felt unwell. He felt that it's unfair for Allen, who answered his earlier personal question… bravely. "I'm… a little bit used to have a drink when… my mood goes down. That's all." That was his limit. He couldn't say more, he didn't want to tell him, that earlier he had been drinking till he passed out. The redhead felt the atmosphere in the room became heavy. Their eyes' contact wasn't a test anymore. "Umm… What is your profession? Except tutorship, of course."

The minutes passed by. An hour passed by. Their contact was never broken, they didn't want to break it. They've been getting to know each other whole evening. After those two hard questions they changed their tactic. Questions became simple: Where do you work? What school are you going to after summer break? What are your interests?

Yes, contact wasn't broken. However, their eyes weren't connected anymore.

The tension between the two boys had been lowered. Beginning of the meeting was bad, but now they were feeling like they had known each other for a long time. Lavi opened himself more, Allen kept smiling.

"What, is it for real? I can't believe adults believe in such a thing!" Allen laughed after Lavi had told him about the unfortunate room 543, where he was currently living. "It's just a room. Yeah, there was a tragedy here, but that doesn't mean it's cursed or something! I, personally, fell pretty fine."

"You can't be sure. You may, one day, get hit by a herd of cows, crossing the main street of our city. It's a curse, after all!" They laughed. Lavi started to like Allen's personality. Kind, interesting, friendly, though a little bit cautious. Being with him made him feel more comfortable than he expected.

"Or a building will collapse on my head while being in the middle of nowhere." Allen also felt pretty good with Lavi's company. The redhead was smart, quite funny, and really self-confident. But distrust was still blocking him the way to the red's true feelings. He really wanted to know about Lavi everything. He didn't want to let him go.

"Say, Allen. Do you have the purpose?" Allen looked at him, a serious expression on Lavi's face made him think about the question more thoroughly…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_So from now on we're going to find it. The reason of us._

_Will you help me? Will I be able to help you?_

_I don't know about it, the future will tell us someday._

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Hellou, everyone ^^ It's me, I hope you've missed me xD Or at least my story. **

**I know that at the beginning I've uploaded almost 5 chapters in 3 days and not there was a big break. Forgive me, my school is not as great as most of Poles think -_- That's why I won't be able to upload (or even to write) anything during the week, only Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays!**

**Now the second thing! Most of you recommended this to me. I've considered it thoroughly and I've decided. I NEED A BETA! Anybody! I'd appreciate it, I don't know what can I give you in return, but please, if you want something, let me know!**

**I'm also thinking about some requests. Right now my attention is fully paid to "NEIGHBOUR", but I know I can write something else. It's just... lack of inspiration? If you have ideas, go ahead!**

**That's all for now. I hope you liked this chapter ^^**


	7. Trashed mind or mind full of trash?

**REVIEW PLEASE! Author's note at the bottom!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 7: Trashed mind or mind full of trash?~~~~~~~~~~

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48th floor. Room 543. Bathroom.**

**3:58 a.m.**

_The place is spinning. It's bad. My head is making me dizzy. I need to stop the spinning. I need to look straight. I can't wait. I can't go. I'm captured. The room is not letting me go. I can't leave it. Am I really cursed? Thoughts are passing before my eyes. I see only fragments of it. It's not leaving me, it doesn't want to leave. I want to forget. I want to remember other things. Happy ones. My memories are sick. My dreams are sick. They're sickening. They don't want to be forgotten. _

Splash. Splash. Splash.

_Wash away everything. Wash my guilt. The guilt of mine. Wash it already! TAKE IT OFF!_

Splash. Splash. Splash.

_Too much noise. Too many people. Why are you looking at me? Why aren't you scared? Too much of everything. I want to run. Run away as fast as possible. I can't sit. I can't look at him. I can't look at **it**. Turn my head away, please! PLEASE! I can't bare it anymore!_

Splash. Splash.

_Why have you died? Don't look at me. Don't say it out loud. I know it! I know and I'm ashamed. I can't speak. I can't reply to you. I want to say the same. Why is your face in blood? Why is there so much noise around us? Please, let me say it too! Stop your eyes! They're leaving me! Look at me, I want to say it before it's to late!_

Splash.

_Move... Please, move! Look at me! No! Get your hands off me! Don't take me away from him! No! Wait, I'm not done! I can't go! I can't go! Leave me alone! I want to hug him, I want to hug him! Let me go! He's drawing away from me! He's not moving! He's moving away! Wait! Wait! NO! HEAR ME!_

GASP!

"I LOVE YOU!"

Pant. Pant. Pant.

Allen Walker opened his eyes roughly and looked around in panic. All he could see was a snow-white bathroom and himself, lying in bathtub full of cold water. He placed his hand on his face and tried to calm himself down. It wasn't the first time. And probably it won't be the last. Ironic, almost hysterical laugh wanted to escape from his lips. But he couldn't let it go. He was shivering. From cold? From fright? Laughter wanted to come out again. No use, Allen was used to it. He stood up, dried himself and dressed in bathrobe. He was still shivering. From touch? From fright? Nobody was at home. He and emptiness. _'We're a nice couple, aren't we?' _He entered his bedroom, sat on the edge of his bed and looked mindlessly at the wall. He hated it. He hated them. He hated that. _'What is there like? Will you explain to me someday?' _The white lay on his bed, not leaving the sight of bedroom's wall. He didn't want to sleep. He didn't want to come back to that place. He shivered. From fright? This time, yes. _'I'm such a coward. I was, I am and probably I will be.' _Allen couldn't figure it out. By it he meant his sudden flashback. He wasn't cured fully. It was holding onto him tightly. It was tiresome. Just like a curse.

"Goodnight." He wished, but not to himself. His eyes were opened till the moment he had to wake up. It was 7:15 a.m.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You idiot-Rabbit! Watch what you're doing!" A tall, raven-haired, Japanese man, dressed as a waiter, yelled at Lavi. It was Friday. It was his first day of job. And he thought it won't be so demanding. DAMN WRONG.

"But Yuu! It's heavy! And where am I supposed to give it?" he whined. Here he is. "L'Ordre Noir", the most exclusive place for a rich-minority, which spend much money on a little, tasteless dishes. Well, not tasteless, taste was actually good, but it's all dishes' size fault. Today was Friday. Today was really crowded. Today he started his job as a waiter.

"Put it on the table with fish-mouthed face and Chihuahua lady. Don't forget a bowl for this stinking pet!" Yes, you could also meet a variety of people's personalities and appearances. He was lucky today he had a shift with his friend Yuu Kanda. That guy loved to give a funny nicknames to all customers (though Lavi sometimes finds it hard to match them with real faces). _'Fortunately I know, where Chihuahua lady sits.' _The redhead exited the kitchen and found himself in elegant interior, designed in the 19th century style (full doom, goth and gloom). Though it was nifty, no one could deny it, Lavi didn't like this place. _'It's so... dreadful... Pseudo-Gothic windows, pseudo-Gothic chains and chandeliers, pseudo-Gothic climate. Who likes it anyway?' _The redhead appeared near the table with a fat, rich-looking man and fake-faced, pink lady, holding beloved animal against her chest.

"Here is your order. May I help you in something else?" _'I've never thought I would sound so disgusting. YUCK THIS POLITNESS!'_

"Oh, may I ask for an extra plate on the table? I do not like my sweetheart eating on the ground." _'Wouldn't be easier if you switched places with that dog, you old hag?' _Lavi tried to hold back his laugher. It was a really good occasion to meet different personalities.

"As you wish, Miss." He was losing his face. Thinking about the dog eating on the table improved his mood greatly. He excused himself and went back to the kitchen. "HEY! A PLATE FOR A DOG!" All chefs looked at Lavi with an utter shock/surprise. The redhead had fun. The Japanese wasn't so pleased.

"What the hell, idiot-Rabbit?"

"Chihuahua lady asked for a plate? Don't give me that look!"

"Then give her that damn plate! And new customers are waiting, so go and get them! Table 4, 7, 8 and 12 is available" _'Hold it. Maybe I should take some notes? But on the other hand... no, they're no needed.'_

"You're so cold, Yuu. You could at least try to help- EEK!" Lavi froze in terror when he saw a knife thrown at his direction. All he could do was to duck. The knife stabbed the kitchen's wall, making a big crack.

"DO. NOT. CALL. ME. YUU..." Heavy atmosphere floated in the air. All the redhead could do was grabbing the nearest plate and run away as fast as possible. He sighed in slight irritation. Why the heck was Yuu so sensitive about his name? It's cute! _'Okay. Do what you have to do. Smile. A wide smile, give her a plate. Good Lord, I'm going to explode! She's really giving it to a dog! This plate is no usable anymore. They have to disinfect it. Smile, bow your head and excuse yourself. Yeah, everything is going fine. Now, new customers. Table 4, 7, 8 or 12 available. I see only two people. 8 should be fine. Let's see what kind of weirdos want to waste their money on... WHAT THE HELL!?' _Lavi had rubbed his eyes before he approached to the people. Everything looked fine. Two men, dressed in suits wanted to have a good time in this creepy place. Wanted to talk about everything and nothing. Wanted to eat hell-expensive food. Of course, nothing special. But there was a one exception.

Why the hell the shorter one was freaking similar to his neighbour!? And why the hell he came here with a Portuguese, not-so-friendly looking guy? He was in shock. And he didn't hide it in time, the customers had noticed it. The white also was amazed by a sudden encounter. He didn't expect someone very similar to his neighbour, dressed in waiter's suit, standing in front of him. He looked up and down. Yes, it was Lavi Bookman. He gave his usual-polite smile.

"Umm, excuse me? Will we be standing here for the rest of the day or may we come in?" Irritated voice came from suntanned man. Lavi shook his head and gave an apologetic smile. _'I don't think we'll be friends...'_ He lead Allen and the stranger to the table No. 8 and gave menu to the customers. Another polite sentences.

"Well, I didn't actually came here to eat, if you excuse me." Lavi stood still. No buying means no sitting here. That was Mr. Komui's gold sentence. "But I'd like to order a really good wine. Give me the best that you have." _'Here goes 100$, man...'_

"And for you, Sir?" It was kinda awkward for to say "Sir" to younger person than him. Not only younger, but also known. It was like treating him like a stranger.

"I'll just have a glass of water." _'Isn't it cheaper to buy a whole bottle in the nearest shop? But I guess you're forced to do it, so I won't disturb you.' _Lavi politely bowed his head and went to the kitchen. However he didn't want to do it. _'Why the hell he's with such a guy? I can't see any good intentions in his eyes... Ok, now I'm really sounding like if I cared.' _He looked through the doors' window. Table 8 was very close, he could see everything perfectly. He could see Allen's somehow saddened face and a big grin of Portuguese guy.

"Here you have that ordered wine and glass, idiot-Rabbit. Where should I put it?" Kanda appeared beside the redhead.

"Table 8" he replied not looking at him. Lavi tied to figure out about what that conversation is. He stopped Kanda, who made a growl. "You know, I'll deliver it myself."

"Alright, but don't tell me again, that I don't help you enough." The redhead chuckled and visited the table again, with a bottle of wine, two glasses and water.

"Excuse me for a moment, Walker, but I need to go to the restroom. Sorry, boy, may I ask for directions?" _'What a great occasion! Wait... where is the restroom? Man, I don't know this building myself!' _Lavi pointed his hand at the stairs, saying that the toilet is on the first floor. The man didn't thank and left immediately. '_Honestly, that was rude of him! I hope he won't be back long.' _Mischievous grin appeared on his face in a though of Portuguese man never coming back.

"Well, that was a big surprise meeting you here today, Lavi." Allen attracted Lavi's attention. "I'm sorry for my companion, he's just not in mood." _'Probably has a PMS, I would say...' _Lavi smiled, he didn't want to see worried face of the white.

"Don't be sorry for him. I don't like him anyway." Allen chuckled. "Who is that guy?"

"Ah, he... He's a person, who my Master happens to know. Tyki Mikk, his name."

"He's not from here, I guess." Lavi looked around to see if mentioned guy was coming back. Fortunately, he wasn't. "Portuguese?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Why are you here with him?" Lavi's curiosity made Allen feel unwell.

"Um... It's not something big. Just some business, here and there." He turned down his voice as if he suspected someone to listen to their conversation. "It's not a good place to talk about it." _'Then I guess I have to be prepared for a long talk.' _Lavi nodded in understanding. It's also not a good time to talk about it. He was working, remember? Allen smiled and his voice came back to normal. "Also I'm sorry, but I have to cancel our today's lesson. I won't have time."

"Oh, sure. No problem." Lavi turned around again. No signs of Tyki. He hadn't lost himself, had he? "Well, then take care. We'll talk maybe later." Allen said goodbye and the redhead came back to the kitchen.

"Why were you talking with that moyashi?" _'And why had I got the feeling of being observed all the time?' _Lavi jumped and turned around to see the Japanese with I-am-so-annoyed expression on his face.

"Moyashi?" Lavi furrowed his brow. He didn't know Japanese.

"That white haired guy?"

"Oh, that one. He's just my neighbour. You know, that one, who lives in 543." Kanda made his usual "Che" and took a few dishes. Lavi sighed. He really wanted to go home.

Only three hours left.

Only two hours left

Only one hour left.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48th floor. Room 544. Living room.**

**9:20 p.m.**

_Overwhelming pressure. It's strangling me. I'm tired, I'm horribly tired. Good thing, I'll fall asleep fast. I don't get it. Why I'm not sleeping right now? I'm lying here for an hour. My eyes are opened. Tiredness isn't closing them. I'm tired. Something is wrong. I hear a noise. A noise from terrace. It's not loud. "I recommend you to leave. Right now.", that's all I could hear. My ears are blocked. I'm tired. Is that Tyki Mikk in his apartment? Is he doing something to him? Why is he here anyway? I'm too tired to think about complicated theories. But he was upset. He was upset in the restaurant. He's upset now. _

Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac.

_Don't be upset. Sadness doesn't suit you. You're too kind to be saddened. You do not deserve it. No one deserves to have a miserable life, didn't you say that? But what about moments? They can be sad. How much moments must you have to admit your life is miserable? Will you tell me about your moments?_

Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac.

"Last warning. Go."

_Your voice is higher. It's annoyed. I've never though you could sound like that. It's so unfamiliar. This voice makes you be someone else. I don't know you. I though I know you. You told me about yourself so much yesterday. You had only described your bright side. I knew it was too perfect. You have an anger. You're bottling in this feeling within yourself. This anxiety, I can notice it. It's not on your face, it's in your voice. It's in the way you speak. Are you afraid someone will find out? I found out. Is it okay for me to know about it? Do you want me to know about it? Will you let me know?_

SMACK!

Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac.

_Don't lose yourself. Tomorrow will be better. I promise._

Chrr... Chrr... Chrr...

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Hurray! Easter holiday is near, so I'll be free from school! That means I'll be able to write more. Not to mention that I'm currently sick xD**

**Story is getting complicated to me. I'm trying to find new ideas. And I have a few ones, but they're mixing with each other and I can't think of the right order. Beginning is still not "Lavenish" enough, they need some time to get to know better xD I don't want to rush things (but if you're so impatient about it, say it. Then I guess I have to find other way to speed things up. Though I don't like this idea, so be prepared for a total dullness...).**

**And here you have new characters added: Kanda (though Lavi spoke to him once in my story, he didn't appeared personally) and Tyki (I though if I should write Tykki or Tyki? Well, Tyki will stay). It's not their first and last performance here, remember. I just need to think about using them in a good way xD**

**Another thing: Allen's thoughts at the beginning. I guess you're not stupid. I hope not. But you know, people are different. So if you think he was dreaming about Lavi... Then please, find a new brain, this one is overworked. And if you're still are clueless then here's some hint (THE ONES, WHO KNOW ABOUT WHAT I MEAN DON'T HAVE TO READ IT):**

**1. Look at the keywords and some sentences: "Why have you died?", flashback, "not completely cured".**

**2. Firstly he was in the room, talking to someone and then suddenly he was in the bathtub. What does it mean?**

**3. Still clueless? What about the word "trauma"? **

**4. NOT YET!? Ok, last hint (more of a spoiler). Earlier conversation with Lavi? He said something about a "certain event" that happened?**

** 5. If you're at this point, then I recommend you to re-read "D Gray-Man" for your own good. **

**Now I'm feeling better. I try to avoid misunderstandings. **

**I want to draw... I want to draw some scenes from my story xD I'll probably make a new site on Deviant Art. I also should write something on my FF profile xD**

**LOOK FOR MORE!**


	8. Even a firefly will watch you

**REVIEW PLEASE! Author's note at the bottom!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 8: Even a firefly will watch you~~~~~~~~~~

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48th floor. Room 543. Terrace.**

He was lying on the floor. He didn't want to fight. He had tried to throw Tyki out, but it was useless. Tyki was stronger. That's why he didn't want to fight. It was his responsibility to settle up Master's problems. He thought he had done everything. It seems he hadn't, there was still one, very big problem left. The Noah family. It seems Master had a debt again. A huge debt. He didn't know about it, Master hadn't told him. Now they had found their accommodation, they wanted a payback. Right now.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't have the money." He hissed. His face was hurting. If he had fought seriously, he would have had more wounds. Tyki was a better fighter than he is. One serious punch is enough to knock Allen out.

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" tanned man drew near the lying boy and grabbed his shirt to make him stand up. Allen's eyes weren't afraid of the intruder. They were cold, without a spirit. "How about that: you'll give us our money back and we'll stop bugging you." He was used to it. Such a threat wasn't something new. "I'll give you one week. One week to collect 2 million dollars. The deadline is on Friday, 5 p.m.".

"Heh, you took 4 hours and a half from my time." Allen was anxious. It was too much money for him. He wouldn't make it in whole week, not even in a whole month. He hated it. He hated that lifestyle. He wanted to live normally, without worries of being caught, of being beaten up, or even being killed. He lived like a runaway with his Master. He lived like a slave. "And what if I won't pay in time?"

"I know how to solve that kind of problem. You'll be surprised. For sure." He didn't like that voice. It was too confident, too evil. The Portuguese suddenly moved. He pushed Allen violently against the wall and grabbed the boy's wrists, clutching them painfully. The white didn't fight back, his eyes started to show fright. Tyki liked that sight. The sight of someone's terror. The sight of someone being dominated. He moved his lips to Allen's ear and whispered, "You better be prepared in the next week. You escaped from me a few times, so I won't let you two run away from the city again. Also you won't be able hide. I'm going to observe every move of yours." He could feel it. The boy's shivering underneath him. Allen probably stopped thinking rationally. Now the fear was controlling him. No surprise. Actually, the white didn't expect Tyki to be a member of the Noah family. In the beginning he was just a Master's old colleague. He met Allen and invited him to "L'Ordre Noir". He was talking about Master's debts, pitying Allen, who was upset with it. They went out, they headed to Allen's apartment. Everything had been going calmly, until he mentioned his family. "I recommend you to leave. Right now", firstly politely. Then more forceful "Go away". And finally "Last warning. Go.". Tyki loved a precise planning. Everything turned perfectly. He poured Allen with all negative feelings. Fear, hate, anger. The boy was broken. "Ok, my little boy. We have a deal. Be, as usually, kind and sweet boy and give my money back." He playfully bit the white's ear, which made the boy shake. Allen was tired. he wanted this meeting to end. He wanted to break free from Tyki's grip. The suntanned probably guessed all wishes. He let Allen go, bowed his head in a polite manner and left the apartment. He was tired. His legs were numb, so he fell on the floor. The floor was comfortingly cold. It was a big relief for his hurting cheek and wrists. He closed his eyes.

_I want to disappear..._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Rose Street. "L'Ordre Noir". The back.**

**Next week. Friday.**

**4.26 p.m.**

"O MY GOD! It's the end!"

Stretch. *yawn*

"I'm worn out. Please, Yuu, kill me~!" Lavi was lying on a bench. The day was almost over. He had to argue with an old lady and her grandson, because, after he had made her first order, she completely had forgotten about her previous dish and shouted at Lavi for making a mistake. _'My memory is better than in average person...'_ He looked hopefully at the grandson, who wasn't sure what to do. But then he decided, that it's better to shout at the waiter too, than to argue with his grandmother. Lavi was dumbfounded. Two people shouting at him for something he hadn't done. Everything ended well after Kanda's intervention. Rough intervention.

"Say my name once more, idiot-Rabbit, and I'll be sure to shut your mouth. Forever..." Only four minutes and they could go. The restaurant is going to be closed for two day, so the men had two days free. Lavi wasn't sure if he will rest. He's going probably to make up for the lost lessons with Allen during the past week. The neighbour was a little bit... different than usually. While they were working, the white seemed to be lost in thoughts. For every lesson he was late and he had to leave early. Then he called the redhead and said, that he had a cold and couldn't come. _'That was strange, because every time I tried to visit him he didn't answer. As if he wasn't at home at all.' _Lavi went to the changing room. He dressed in his usual clothes and went out. It was hot outside. Full Summer. Lavi wished quietly for a cold can of Coke, a big bowl of strawberry ice-cream and a ventilator.

"Hah... I truly hate Summer. I'm going to melt for sure." He whined to his Japanese friend, who didn't seem to be affected by the weather.

"Che. At least it'll be calmer without your whining." Kanda fought the urge of completely silencing the redhead.

"You're so cold! Don't pretend the weather doesn't bother you!" Both males turned to the left and found themselves at the bus station.

"It's just you, who is so squeamish about the weather! If it's a problem, then go and solve it!" The dead aura appeared again. Lavi knew Yuu hated over hot days as well. _'It's probably warmer for him due to his long hair.' _He chuckled to himself and looked at the road in hope the bus will come soon. Few seconds passed. "Uh, it's annoying! I'm going to the café , I need to drink!" Lavi laughed. The Japanese was really funny when he gets annoyed. That's why he loved annoy Kanda. "You're coming, idiot-Rabbit?"

"Huh?" Lavi blinked. KANDA invited HIM? '_Since when has he been so...human? Last time we went somewhere together was ... to celebrate our graduation from Junior High School? It was like... 3 years ago?' _After Junior High both of them went to other schools. Lavi picked one with extended history (4-year curriculum, one year to graduation), Kanda went to gastronomic one (graduated 1 month ago). Since that time their relationship had been restricted to rare calls on the phone and saying "Hi!" on the bus stop. But then the summer came, Lavi was kicked out of his previous job and started to work where Kanda had been. Their acquaintance became better. _'Huh, am I able to go somewhere? I don't think so, I have to learn French! Though Allen don't have time I'm going to learn by myself until he gets better! Learn as fast as possible and keep my job!' _"Oh, I'm sorry, Yuu, I don't think I have time for that. But believe me, I'd really like to!" _'Though I don't have enough money to go and buy whatever I want.'_

"Che. Do whatever you want, I'm off." Lavi waved him for goodbye and sat on the bench. No signs of approaching bus. He sighed, Both form annoyance and lack of oxygen in the air. The air was heavy. Too heavy...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_'I'd better make a driver's license... I start to dislike buses...' _Two streets for the Glorious Street there was a Lavi's bus stop. He left the vehicle with a big crowd behind him. _'Ok, only 5 minutes left to home. It's going to be great! I need to learn some French vocabulary about food. And some polite sentences. I hope Allen's okay, he's a good teacher after all. Maybe I should visit him? No, he's probably not at home. Again. If he's that busy, then why he said he had a cold? He lied to me? Everybody lies. Maybe he didn't want to. Since the meeting with that Tyki Mikk he had been so strange. And the day later at our lesson I had noticed something odd. Bruises on his cheek and wrists. Saddened and tired eyes. No energy within him. I hadn't seen Allen inside the shell, that looked like him.' _Near the florist he crossed the road, turned left and went forward. _'I should not bother. It's his life and I'm not supposed to get involved. But I'll ask him anyway, maybe I'll try to cheer him up. Maybe a little company is needed? I still wonder what that Portuguese said to him? Did he torment All- _

_..._

_what the hell is happening?' _

Lavi stopped in front of the skyscraper "13". Fire-brigade, police, more fire-brigade, two ambulances and lots of people. _'So many of them. Probably whole floor is here.' _The redhead made a few steps forward and looked up. There was a small smoke coming from apartment. _'I guess fire was between 40__th__ and 45__th__ floor. Or maybe higher...' _Lavi's thought about his fire burnt made him run to the building. There was even more people inside, everybody talking to each other. Lavi listened to their conversation.

"Two persons collapsed from the smoke!"

"After chambermaid had left the room there was a big explosion and suddenly everything was in fire! I heard the maid's hand was damaged!'

"It was true after all! That room is cursed!"

"Whole 48th floor was evacuated!"

"The resident was probably inside. I saw a boy, led by medic. He looked terrible!"

_'Don't tell me that...' _Lavi connected all gossips and thought of the worst possible scenario. He shook his head and went to the receptionist to confirm his theory. A young, Asian girl greeted Mr. Bookman.

"Hi, Lenalee. Listen, I need to know what happened here. I heard it was something on the 48th floor. What is going on? Is it something bad?" His voice was shaking, his questions were mixed and almost not understandable for the girl.

"It was from the room 543."

_No..._

"At around 5 p.m. there was an explosion and the whole room was set in fire. Fire-fighters extinguished it about 30 minutes ago. The police assumes it was a fire-rising."

_Who the hell..._

"Two people were gassed by the smoke. A chamber maid, who had been cleaning the room 543 before the explosion, was blown away, but no serious damages. On the other hand, the resident- "

"What happened to Allen? What's with him?" he interrupted. Lavi was concerned. He didn't give a thought why he was worried about his neighbour. Normally he just wouldn't care.

_Tell me he wasn't in the room at the moment of explosion. Please..._

"Mr. Walker wasn't near the source in the moment of the explosion..."

_Thank you, God, wherever you are. He wasn't there._

"But he was found by the fire-fighters locked in the bedroom, which was burning at that time."

_Do you even exist? I'm taking my thanks back..._

"He was unconscious while being rescued. His left hand was completely burned. They took him to the hospital."

_Allen..._

"Thank you, Lenalee..." he said blankly. There was an annunciation, that people from 48th floor would have to wait for 3 hours, before the safety services examined the place of tragedy. The redhead sat on the couch and hid his face behind his palms. His ears were still capturing people's talks.

"Firstly that young couple! And now that poor boy!"

"He shouldn't have lived there in the first place! Didn't he read the newspapers 4 months ago?"

"He had probably blown whole apartment on his own. Have you seen him? He's a weirdo!"

"It's a curse! I bet it is it!"

"_Yeah, there was a tragedy here, but that doesn't mean it's cursed or something!"_

_Please, Allen... Be fine..._

_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_

**Two days later.**

The fire in the cursed room 543 was the main topic of all inhabitants. Every newspaper had the same headline: "THE CURSE OF THE 543 CAME BACK!" or "ANOTHER TRAGEDY IN THE ROOM 543! THE RESIDENT NEARLY KILLED!". Lavi bought every type of the paper. He was collecting information. He was collecting the events. He was collecting the history. Wherever you went you could hear talks. About the explosion. About the fire. About the resident. It disgusted Lavi. Personally he would just rip off everyone's mouth and give it to all starving dogs from the streets. He hated people's opinion about Allen. In their eyes he was a weirdo. "What normal can you say about him? He lived in the cursed room, his hair's white, he has a big scar on his face, he's smiling like a madman? What is normal? Will you tell me?" He fought the urge of punching the salesman, to who Allen was doing groceries almost every day. _'You're just another fucker from others, who don't know anything about him, yet has been still acting like he knows everything!'_

"Fuck off, you jerk." it was his reply. The man looked in shock. Lavi has decided not to by anything from the salesman's shop anymore. _'It's time to come back home.' _He looked at the clock and went towards the skyscraper "13". The police was still around the building. He recalled the sight of the burned room. The doors were blocked by a yellow tape with a black warning **'DO NOT CROSS'. **He didn't cross, of course, but he took a look of the interior. White walls were black. In the place, where the wardrobe was supposed to be there was a pile of ashes and burned wood. Everything smelled like a smoke. The whole apartment was ruined. It died. Finally.

He entered the building and to his surprise he saw a white haired boy, sitting on the sofa and talking with officers. Lavi's heart motion stopped. There was no mistake, it was Allen Walker. He was pale. He was damaged. He had his left hand wrapped in bandages. And near him was sitting a man. A man with a long, red hair. With a cigarette in his mouth. Dressed in a black coat. He was talking between the officers and Allen. Lavi was curious again, but he knew he shouldn't disturb the investigation. He was relieved that the neighbour was alive. The talk took a few minutes, policemen were concentrated on the adult, ignoring the boy completely. Lavi wanted to talk with Allen so he had decided to wait until the conversation was over. Allen looked at adults and looked around the hall. He wanted to be left alone. His eyes were searching through the hall and fond themselves staring at a redhead, who was standing near the receptionist's desk and staring at him. Their eyes met. Lavi felt being busted and waved shyly. The white noticed the wave and gave an insecure smile. The men bowed their heads to each other and went away, leaving Allen sitting by himself. The stranger and officers passed Lavi by and left the building. The redhead approached the sofa.

"Hi. Long time, no see." Allen spoke, not looking at Lavi.

"Are you ok, Allen?" Lavi felt uncomfortably. Allen was even more lifeless than before. He thought the boy looked horrible already after seeing him from distance. Now he was close. He was even worse.

"I'm getting better." _'Why his answer seems so dishonest to me?' _"I'll be better for sure. I just... need some time."

"I tried to find the hospital you had been brought to, but no one could give me the right direction." _'I tried so many times. I wanted to know, if you're alright.'_

"My master didn't allow anyone to give away my current location. It was... needed." Hesitation in his voice made Lavi even more worried.

"Needed?" he copied with a questioning voice. "Why needed? Was someone after you?" That would make a sense.

"Uh..." He didn't want to answer. Something blocked his throat.

"Allen..." he was shocked with himself. He couldn't deny it anymore. He was awfully worried about Allen. When it's about "Life & Death" situations, he couldn't be insensible about it. Such a tragedy, nobody should experience it. "...please, tell me. What happened?" He laid his left hand on Allen's right shoulder. His eyes were focused on the boy's face. The face, that didn't want to confront with the redhead's gaze.

"I... can't tell you. I don't want to talk about it."

"Why? What the hell happened?" He was losing his temper.

"I won't tell. Not now..." Allen was weak under Lavi's incoming anger. He was tired. He went back from the hospital and at the same moment he went into the building everyone started to ask about the event. He said everything. Everything was a lie. He didn't want anybody to find out the truth. "Instead of lying to you, I'd rather not tell anything. I just want to rest." Lavi looked at Allen's left hand. It seemed so fragile, so painful. He sighed and took few steps back. The fight, the anger, the curiosity was pointless. The guilt covered him. The guilt of interrogating the boy, who was probably exhausted after the tragedy, after being in hospital, after being asked a billions of questions right after his arrival.

"I'm sorry." Lavi wanted to get rid off the guilt. Allen looked up and tried to smile. Apology accepted. _'At least someone understands a little my current state. Thank you, Lavi.' _The white grabbed his head and thought.

"What next?" The redhead looked at the boy,

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't know what to do next. Everything... vanished." Lavi gave a thoughtful sound and rubbed his chin. He knew what Allen meant. Everything was swallowed by the fire.

"Do you have a place to live?"

"Currently, no." Allen's voice was plain. "My Master still hasn't found another apartment to live. I guess I'll spend some time sleeping on this sofa." He chuckled ironically.

"Then maybe..." He felt wrong. He didn't want to leave things like this. "Maybe you could live at my place for a while? Until you will find a new room?"

~~~~~~~~~~END OF THE CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**It's currently my longest chapter in whole story. Inspiration made me do this xD**

**I'm sorry glon-morski, but I tried to send this story a couple of times and it still showed me "ERROR" page -_-. I guess I have to find other way to send it.**

**BE PREPARED, NEXT CHAPTER MAY BE EVEN LONGER THAN THIS!**


	9. Orchestra is playing in my insides

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 9: Orchestra is playing in my insides~~~~~~~~~~

"_Is it really okay for me to stay?"_

"_Sure, I don't mind. Really. "_

"…"

"_Hey, you're alright?"_

"_No. I mean, yes. I just…"_

"_You?"_

"_Thank you. I really do."_

"…_Well, um. No problem."_

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48****th**** floor. Room 543**_. _**Bedroom.**

Beep-eep! Beep-eep! Beep-eep! Beep-eep!

*Yawn* _O my God… 5 more minutes… I haven't slept well…_

Beep-eep! Beep-eep! Beep-eep! Beep-eep!

_Shut up… Shut up… I don't want to get up…_

Beep-eep! Beep-eep! Beep-eep! Beep-eep!

_Alright… Alright… You've won, you little…_

*Cough* *Cough* Beep-eep! Beep-eep! *Cough*

…_I feel like a crap. Jesus, my head… Why is a wet towel put on my head?_

It was Monday's morning. The beginning of a new week and new duties. The alarm clock was the first thing Lavi heard, and it wasn't a pleasant sound. Especially when he felt very bad.

Beep-eep! Beep-eep! Bee-! CRASH!

He felt much better without an annoying sound (though the alarm suffered serious damage). He looked around his bedroom to find if something had changed during the night. Everything seemed fine and boring as usually. _'Uh, what have I expected?' _Lavi groaned and forced himself out of his warm and soft bed.

*Cough* *Cough* "Hell…" *Cough* "I feel numb…" *Cough*

He left his bedroom and entered the living room. As expected, nothing had changed there either. However, something was missing. Or better say, someone was missing.

*Cough* _'Where did he go? He shouldn't be even moving! What about his injuries!?' _*Cough* _'Hell, I am the one, who shouldn't move neither.' _*Cough*

Lavi was a little bit scared of the white boy's disappearance. He started to search for Allen in apartment. No trace in the terrace. Neither in the kitchen nor in the bathroom. The redhead scratched his head in concern. _'Did he leave the apartment completely? Without a notice? What if I've got suckered… My documents and money!' _He really didn't like his distrust towards Allen, but he always cared about himself first. If Allen really took a chance of stealing Lavi's values, then the redhead was the biggest idiot in the world. Lavi went to his wardrobe and started searching through shelves. He inspected everything: jewelery, documents of apartment, documents of job, money. He sighed in relief as everything was in the right place. _'Hallelujah. He isn't a jerk after all. Or maybe didn't know, where all this stuff is.' _*Cough* _'Ok, now I'd better be preparing for work. Where the hell he disappeared?' _There was a mirror in the wardrobe. He looked at himself for a while. Thee was a guy, with red, messy hair; with a dark rings around his tired, green eyes and a pale skin on his face, which had little pink cheeks. He poked out his tongue at himself and chuckled. _'Man, I need lots of strength for today. I hope it's just a cold.'. _Another series of coughing came from his throat. Lavi gasped and held his head. He really didn't feel good, but still were washing himself, dressing and having a cup of coffee. A breakfast wasn't wanted, there was no appetite. The redhead looked at the clock and sighed, as he had to go, though Allen still hadn't come back. _'I gave him the keys, so he shouldn't have problems coming here by himself. If he will come…'_

Slam! Click. *Cough* *Cough*

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What the hell, idiot-Rabbit?" the Japanese colleague, Yuu Kanda, was pretty shocked by the redhead's appearance and behavior.

"Good morning to you too…" Lavi tried his best to sound as cheerful as normally, but today it was almost impossible for him. None of his features listened to him, everything seemed too exhausted and painful. "What's with your look? Am I strange or something?" The black boy shook as he felt annoyance in Lavi's voice, which was very rare, since Lavi had been always the annoying one, not annoyed. "Excuse me? Yuu?"

"Shut the hell up. Don't you dare call me like that!" Again, the redhead's reaction was strange. Normally he jumps back and begs for forgiveness after saying Kanda's first name. Or at least whines that his name is so cute. Not a singe of reactions appeared. Only a glance from tired eyes was given. "Why the hell do you look like a crap?" Lavi chuckled at man's concern and shook his head like he was trying to say he's fine. "Che."

"Let's go before Mr. Komui gets angry and forces us to test his knew culinary experiments." They entered the restaurant "L'Ordre Noir" five minutes late. Unfortunately, earlier mentioned Mr. Komui was waiting in front of the staff room, drumming his fingers on his arm.

"Ah, here you are, Lavi!" differently from Lavi's expectations, the head chef didn't seem to be angry or having evil intentions.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Komui! I missed my bus and…" he hurriedly tried to find a good excuse, but the chef raised his hand for silence.

"That doesn't matter. I actually wanted to ask if you're ok?"

"Eh?" He made a sound of disbelief. Boss is caring for his employees? That was too wonderful to happen. "Um… I feel fine. Thank you, Sir."

"That's good! Because I wanted you and Kanda to test my newest chef-robot, Komurin II! Everyone is busy already, and you two came late, so…" _'Yes, IT WAS TOO WONDERFUL… His eyes are glimmering…' _"All you have to do is to observe him and make some notes about his behavior and quality of work." _'Is he really a chef or a mad scientist? He missed his profession…'._

*Cough* *Cough* "Of course, Sir. We're going…" *Cough*

Mr. Komui looked at Lavi. His employee didn't look well. It wouldn't be good, if he collapsed while checking Komurin II, accident may happen. He gave Lavi and Kanda papers and pens and pointed at the kitchen. The cloud of despair followed the men.

"Great. Just great! Science-freak involved us in his sick creations again!" Kanda growled, a vein pulsing on his forehead. Lavi stood beside a big, suspiciously-looking machine, which was wearing the same chef's hat as Mr. Komui does. He looked at the paper and signed in some places. Vision was blurry, head was dizzy, Lavi was sick. To sick to think or pay attention to anything. "…OY! BAKA-USAGI!"

"Uh…?" He responded half-consciously, still fighting with an urge to collapse. He started to shiver as if the room was very cold. "Whad'ya want?" He didn't even want to talk.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

"Idiot, you really look screwed." The Japanese looked at him in annoyance, but his eyes showed an honest concern. "You really shouldn't have come and infect everyone with your coughing!" Lavi made a weak smile and sat for a moment.

"Maybe, but right now I'm not allowed to skip my work. I need money."

"Like everyone." Kanda read the Komurin II's manual and pushed few buttons in a complicated order. Mechanism inside the robot started to move, making a big noise. "But if it makes you push yourself at your limits, then leave it." The robot raised up his hands and with his "eyes" he tried to recognize the place. The machine reached for butter, flour, sugar, and eggs and started to make a cake in a turbo speed. "What a freaky machine, Mr. Freak's robots are even creepier than before…USAGI!! OY, IDIOT-RABBIT!!" Kanda shook the unconscious boy, who had slipped from bench a while earlier.

_What the? Where am I? It's black here but my eyes aren't closed. I hear things. Yuu is probably shouting at me for not responding. Sorry, Yuu, I'm just relaxing, I'll come back to work soon and we'll be supervising that Komu-something, ok? My body aches, I'm cold and hot at the same time. Another noises, could it be Mr. Komui? Don't worry, he'll forgive me for taking a nap. Or maybe should I wake up now? But I can't- OUCH! Hey, what the heck are you doing to my cheek!? It hurt- OUCH! Now second! Stop it, why the hell have I done!? Wait till I wake up, I'm going to beat- OUCH!_

"Ouch… What the…?" Lavi looked confused while he was mumbling. Three men were standing in front of his eyes, Yuu, Mr. Komui and Mr. Reever (Komui's right hand, vice-head chef). "What are you guys staring at?"

"Shut up, Idiot-Rabbit!" Kanda raised his hand to smack the redhead for the third time, but that one wasn't intended to bring round the sick. However, the punch was stopped in time by Mr. Reever. "Che. You idiot passed out and made everyone worked up. Happy?"

"What is it, Yuu…" *Cough* *Cough* "…were you scared that something bad happened to me?"He said mockingly but gulped a moment later when the death aura covered whole space. "Yyy… I mean, of course you wouldn't care, would you?"

"Shut up. It's my decision to care or not, Idiot- Rabbit!" Lavi chuckled as he knew he scared the Japanese. _'So I fainted, right? It's not good that Komui is here…'_

"Umm… I can explain myself…"

"No need, Lavi." Mr. Komui put his hand on Lavi's forehead and pulled it back fast, like he was touching a fired stove. "As I thought, you really need to rest. I'm sending you back home and giving you a week to recover, got it?"

"But I'll be fine in a moment…" He straightened himself quickly, but fast movement caused a sudden dizziness. "...Uh...Ok, I won't. But one week is too long, really! Give me only 3 days, it's just a cold!"

"For me it looks like a flu." Mr. Reever, who felt a little bit ignored, tried to sound like a specialist in illnesses. "Who knows, if this week won't be enough."

"It all depends on your behavior and recklessness, Lavi." Komui put his hand on redhead's shoulder and looked into green, watery eyes with mother-like-care. "So lie in your bed and don't go anywhere, ok?" Lavi nodded in defeat. There was no point in arguing with boss, he probably wouldn't understand that right now Lavi was working for his food. Every skip of his work was an nonreturnable amount of money. "Sit here now, someone will pick you up soon."

"But there is no need, I can come back on my own! I'm not that weak!" Lavi pouted.

"What did I say about your recklessness?" Boss' glare wasn't very nice, the redhead changed his mind immediately.

"Alright, alright. Geez..." Lavi sat on a chair in the restaurant's back, thinking who is going to pick him up. '_They hadn't called Panda-grams...had they?' _He smacked his head, as he didn't think of asking Mr. Komui not to call his grandfather. _'Panda would agree of course, but personally he wouldn't do it. He doesn't care!' _Minutes passed by as Lavi was getting annoyed with every second. _'Whoever it would be I am sure he'll be no faster than in hour. I could be on my way to home now...' _The doors opened and Lavi turned his head. Unemployed people were not allowed in the back. "What the hell!? What are... you... doing here?"

"Your boss called hotel's receptionist and asked me, if I can pick you up." In front of the redhead was standing a short, white haired boy. No one else than Allen Walker, his cohabitant since yesterday's evening. "By the way, good morning to you too." Though his pale face still showed some signs of tiredness his smile was more joyful than in the past week. _'I thought you left my room...' _Lavi's eyes widened and said good morning back. He felt stupid. He didn't want to force Allen, who was recovering from his own wounds, to come. "Hey, are you ok? I heard you fainted. Come on, we're going to the taxi.". Allen offered his shoulder to help the dizzy redhead walk. On their way to car Mr. Komui was standing with Kanda outside and waved for good-bye. Allen bowed his head and Lavi waved back. The taxi driver was mumbling something about waiting too long and extra payment for the service, but Allen only nodded politely and asked to come back to the Glorious Street, skyscraper "13".

"You really didn't have to bother. Ya know, I-"

"I would be fine by myself, I would go home by bus and personally I would like to stay at work. 'cause I don't feel that bad." Lavi lost words and looked at Allen with his mouth opened. Everything what he wanted to say, the boy had said with a little irritation in his voice. The redhead turned his look at the window to hide his embarrassment from Allen. The white put his damaged hand on Lavi's left shoulder and looked at the redhead with concern. "I knew you didn't feel well since yesterday, you had a high fever and I tried to turn it down." _'Explains wet, cold towel on my forehead...' _"I also left a note in your bedroom, that you shouldn't go to work today. Haven't you read it?" _'I hadn't noticed anything out of ordinary in my apartment.'_

"Um, I guess I hadn't seen it. Where was it?"

"On your fridge." _'I didn't have a breakfast, so there was no need to look at the fridge. I wonder if I would have listened anyway...' _"I shouldn't have gone anywhere until you were awake. Sorry for that."

"Don't say sorry, dammit..." the anger wasn't supposed to be heard, but he couldn't stand a headache, which was making him be like that. He realized quickly his own rudeness and looked apologetically. Allen didn't seem to be affected by rude words. Actually his smile even grew wider than before. "At the morning I actually thought you... decided to live somewhere else and left the 544." That was hard to say for Lavi, he knew this sentence showed a little bit of... his self. Allen's eyes widened in a sudden... "confession" _'If it's a good way to describe it...' _He scratched his neck and smiled at himself. His neighbour became more trustful.

"I went only for a moment. My things were burned completely in the 543, so I had to go and buy new ones. It'll take some time to find newer room, but it'd be rude not letting you know I moved. In person." _'Yeah, that would be more like you. My bad, Allen...' _"Fortunately, all my savings and documents were in the bank, so nothing that important was lost."

"Yeah, you're lucky." Lavi stared through the window at the scenery, which changed quickly with every 100 meters. His dizzy head made the vision blurry, he couldn't tell exactly where he was. But for sure the route the taxi driver picked was different form the bus' route. It was probably faster, they were using the motorway to the center of the city. _'My bus visits all unnecessary countrysides and who-knows-what places, so its road is like a ribbon...I really need to make a driver's license...'. _What was his surprise, when he noticed the familiar shops and buildings from the Glorious Street. Whole ride took about 20 minutes. "So here we are..."

"Yeah. Let's go, Lavi." Allen took out his wallet and paid to the grumpy driver.

"Hey, I'm adding 10$ more for waiting for you near the restaurant!" Lavi was amused by driver's forwardness.

"I don't have to pay." Allen's voice was uninterested in complaints. He didn't want to be suckered. "You can say to every other customer, that the resident from the cursed room 543 was sitting in your car. You'll be famous for sure." The driver made a sound of disgust, as if he was afraid of being infected with the boy's curse. Lavi didn't like treating Allen like some kind of a freak of nature.

_'You seem not to care about it. But what is the truth, Allen?'_

_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48****th**** floor. Room 544. The bedroom.**

*Cough* *Cough* "Shit, my lungs..." *Cough* *Cough*

"You should half-lie in your bed, so you can breathe better."

"But it's uncomfortable for me." *Cough*

"But it's more comfortable to suffocate? Don't act like a kid."

"I don't! I'm so sorry, Mr. Doctor." *Cough* *Cough*

After arrival everything went automatically: put off normal clothes, dress in loose clothes, go to bed. Allen supervised Lavi, so he couldn't do anything more than this. The earlier white's absence was also caused by going to the nearest chemist's for some flu medicine. Such a care wasn't a usual thing for Lavi. Having someone living under the same roof with him wasn't usual either. Allen's presence in his room was so weird. He wasn't used to have a company almost 24 hours a day, he was only meeting Kanda outside. His home was his solitude. The white disturbed that solitude, he was a nuisance to his normal lifestyle. But, surprisingly, he wasn't annoyed or angry. He accepted extraordinary event fully. It was Lavi, who decided to stop being alone. He decided it the moment he let the homeless neighbour stay. No, that wasn't the right one. The fist time was when he sought for a company with Allen. It was the first time he saw the white.

"Hey? Hello?" Lavi woke up from his thoughts and saw a hand moving from the left to the right and from the right to the left. "You're out of here or something?"

"Yeah, I'm currently on Caribbean Islands, watching dancing, naked girls and drinking alcohol with an umbrella." Lavi said ironically, coughing in the meantime. The boy laughed and gave a coughing medicine to the sick. "Yuck, I'm not drinking that!"

"Yes, you are. Without any objections." Allen divided Lavi's personality in two different parts. The first part was a lonely child, who needs attention, wants to be loved and does everything to be noticed (even if it means a really childish behavior or rudeness from child's side). When someone is with him, he does whatever he wants, making him happy and feel needed. The second one is opposite: an adult, alienating from society, afraid of being noticed or just used not to be recognized. He was fine on his own, some people for him are useful only when he needs it. For others he was insensible. Bonds are problems. Allen happened to meet Lavi's second half of personality at the beginning of their acquaintance, but slowly it disappears. He started to notice this child, this person, who wants to be loved. "Drink it or I may be forced to pour it down your throat."

"Is that a threat?" Lavi wasn't sure where the line of Allen's allowed obtrusion was. It seems he hadn't made any yet. He wasn't feeling like doing it either. "I'm immune to that. Try something else." *Cough* *Cough*

"You were warned." Allen smirked. It made Lavi suspicious and a little bit afraid. The boy put down a bottle with medicated syrup and looked with eyes, which were hiding an idea behind them. "Are you ticklish?" Lavi coughed, more in surprise than due to illness.

"Am I what? Why you- GYAHAHAHA! AHAHA!" The redhead burst into laughter, feeling moving fingers near his armpits. Allen was smiling widely seeing Lavi laughing in joy mixed with surprise by a sudden touch. Tears gathering in corners of his eyes were a proof, that the redhead was VERY ticklish. "HAHAHA! NO-AHAH! STOP! GYAAAAHAHA! STOP IT! HAHAHA- GULP!" laughing ended very quickly as Lavi felt a raspberry liquid swallowed. He opened his eyes and saw smirking Allen with an opened bottle of coughing medicine.

"Was it that bad?" Lavi was too shocked to speak, he made some soundless words, which were supposed to express his disbelief in Allen's earlier action. "I've picked the one with a taste. A medicine, I mean. Was it that gross?" The redhead stared a few moments longer and realized the coughing stopped bugging him.

"No, it wasn't. It's tasty, actually." Lavi grinned. _'That earlier tickling was pleasant too.' _If Lavi had been his second self, he would probably shout at the neighbour and forced him to get out of his room. But he wasn't. Not now and, hopefully, not anymore. "Hm... I think I've got addicted. Gimme some more!"

"What? No way! You can have it only twice a day." Allen avoided sudden Lavi's reaching for the medicine bottle.

"If I can't have it by request, I'll have it by force." Lavi made a mischievous grin, his eyes were full of determination. Allen wasn't sure what was going on in redhead's head, but he knew it won't be good for him. Lavi took his blanket off him and moved towards the boy. Slowly.

"L-Lavi? W-Wait!" Allen was confused. Suddenly he was lying on Lavi's bed and the redhead was standing above him. "What are you going to-AHAHAHAHA! GAHAHA!" His body was tickling under the redhead's fingers. The laughter was even louder than the man's. "GYAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA! NOOOO!"

"It's a TICKLE PUNISHMENT!" Lavi said playfully, smiling at laughing boy and having some fun too. "This will teach you to respect adults, young boy!"He moved his fingers from Allen's armpits to Allen's feet, which were even more sensitive. Allen was moving roughly, trying to break free from the "Tickle Punishment", but Lavi's grip were holding him in the same place.

"GYAHAHA! NO-AHAHAAHA! S-SORYYY! GYAHAYA! MERCY! MERCY! MER-HAHAHAHA!"Lavi grinned and let go of Allen's feet. The younger was panting for a while, weeping tears from his eyes and then sat on the bed. His face heated, his cheeks were blushing from laughter and watery eyes looked at Lavi, full of joy. Allen chuckled as he saw Lavi's face, which was ill, but seemed to be very happy.

Lavi wished Allen could look that happy longer.

And vice versa.

~~~~~~~~~~END OF THE CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~


	10. Circus Angry Performance

**REVIEW PLEASE! AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 10: Circus Angry Performance~~~~~~~~~

„Alleeeen..." whine.

"What is it now, Lavi?" irritation.

"Can I go out? Pretty please?" puppy eyes.

"No, you can't. And you won't be able for a week." need for a patience.

"That's awful! I can't even do anything in my OWN house!" groan.

"So why won't you throw me out?" mock.

"..." defeat.

It was the second day of Lavi's illness and Allen's appearance in room 544. Tuesday. A very rainy day. Lavi was lying in his bed, reading a book (something about Europe in 15th century) while Allen was sitting next to him and reading through old newspapers, which he found on the living room's floor. That was surely an odd, yet interesting redhead's hobby. Collecting information. The oldest newspaper Allen had found was published about 10 years ago and the paper's condition was even better than the white expected. _'It really means he cares much about history and current events' _Allen thought as he recalled Lavi holding a bunch of newspapers, all mentioning the fire event in his room from two days ago. On the floor was also a lot of articles about the first tragedy in the apartment, showing on its pictures every bloody detail: walls splashed with blood, a murder weapon and even a young couple's corpses. He shivered from thought and put the newspaper away just to pick up another one.

"Hey, Allen." _'Not again...'_

"Yes?"

"What about your new apartment search? Have anything in your mind?" Allen looked up from currently read newspaper, which contained an article about the Candy Shop, which was firstly robbed by thieves from cash, then by local children from candies. The shop's manager was very confused about the event, yet he had forgiven all kids for eating sweets. Such a charity from his side made the Candy Shop "Yummy" the most famous shop in whole city.

"Oh, so you really want to get rid of me." Lavi looked up from currently read book in surprise. He definitely wasn't surprised by the fact, that Christopher Columbus wasn't exactly the first one, who discovered the New World, known later as America. "Don't worry, I'll get out as soon as possible, so I won't bother you with myself anymore."

"Oy, oy, oy! Chill out, man. Do not over-interpret my question, got it?" Something was alerting in his voice. It was an alert from coming annoyance, Allen knew that for sure. "Stay here as long as you want." _'Shouldn't have I said "As long as you need"? So strange, extreme metamorphose... Oh, good.. He's smiling again.' _The smile was given back and he came back to search for information about Vikings. _'Gosh, it's really boring... I wish I was healthy and went somewhere to hang around...' _Having turned his page he glanced at Allen for a moment. There was something wrong with his face, as he was reading a newspaper from 4th April, 2002. The paper from 7 years ago. Lavi observed the white, who was trembling, had eyes wide opened, full of fear and something unrecognizable for the redhead. The best explanation, that came up was a fight against bursting into tears. "Allen? Hey, you're okay?" The boy's head lifted up immediately and a bandaged hand made a rough movement near his eyes.

"W-Wha? Of course, I'm alright!", answer was very quick and nervous, just like it tried to hide something painful and personal. "Why did you ask such a question?" Lavi wasn't fooled by a sudden and fake reaction of Allen. He only rose his hand and grabbed the newspaper, which was probably the main reason of the white's slight breakdown. "Um... It's nothing, really-"

"Shh!" Allen silenced himself as Lavi started to read through the article quickly. He remembered it clearly. The incident for 4th April, 2002. The circus incident in Hewood. He looked at the white head and saw this expression again. Lifeless and sad. The most unwanted face on the boy turned up before his eyes. "Did something happen there? I mean, to you?" Another shiver ran through Allen's spine. It made Allen stand up and look at the article with a newer state: hate. The picture made him hate again. He hated it. The feeling, which made him recall all his actions, all his words. "Allen? Hey, what's wrong?" He shook his head violently and walked to the bedroom's door.

"I'm sorry, I've almost forgotten I have to look for a new apartment with my Master today." the voice was cold, blank and avoiding. This voice knew the pictures in his mind won't leave him alone. The pictures from the past. "And to your earlier question... I... need some piece of mind. I'm sorry for my rudeness." A fake politeness was added to the timbre. All Lavi did was nodding and letting the white go.

"Hey, Allen."

"Yes, Lavi?"

"It's okay to be alone for a while."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**8.25 p.m.**

Click! Step. Step. Step. Hum. Step. Step. Step. Squeak.

"Oh? Lavi, you're not sleeping?", although it was dark everywhere in apartment 544, the light in the bedroom was still on, showing a redhead lying on his bed and reading the same book as 6 hours ago.

"No, as you can see.", though his voice indicated coming sleep-state. "How are you?"

"Fine."

"No, you're not." The white looked like he was going through a big storm. Completely exhausted, but not physically. The one only smiled falsely and went to the living room. _'Again his curiosity.' _He knew, that if Lavi ask about the circus article again, he won't be able to hold back his answer. Or his temper. There was a fear of his secret being discovered. A painful secret.

Squeak.

"You really do like to run away." The ill sat on the couch beside Allen.

"I didn't run away, I had just moved to my room."

"I didn't mean run away from place to place." There was a moment of silence between two men. The living room was still dark, nothing could be seen with a bare eye. Allen sitting alone in this black place didn't mean to Lavi anything good. He knew the boy still wanted to be alone, though he had had 6 hours of solitude before. _'Didn't he get over it?' , _"You can tell me if you want to."

"I'm not into psychological talks, thank you. Though I really appreciate your offer.", _'Shit, stop talking in such a disgusting way...'_

"Who said it'd be a psychological talk?"

"Nobody, but I know, where will it go later. I'll be going through my monologue, you'll pity me and say 'Huh, life really sucks.' and then everyone will be happy." Allen growled at Lavi, who was slightly offended by the way the white though about a conversation with him. This made him feel a little bit distrusted and underestimated.

"Thanks for thinking about me like that. I really appreciate your opinion.", an anger covered the redhead slowly, making the boy sitting next more annoyed than before.

"So what am I supposed to do? Have any bright idea?", sarcasm was definitely hated in Lavi's ears. Both of men turned their faces at each other and continued their coming argument.

"How about not being an asshole?"

"Who is an asshole here!?"

"You, 'cause you like to torment yourself and let your unexplained anger off at anyone, who tries to help!"

"I didn't ask for any help!"

"That's why you're an ass!"

"You think you know everything? You think life is full of roses and butterflies, flying around? Come on, don't ridicule yourself!"

"Shut the hell up, you don't have a right to say it! You don't know me!"

"Neither do you me!"

"At least I'm trying to do something!"

"Fuck off!" the redhead was paralyzed by his own fury. He couldn't believe his neighbour had such a horrible personality hidden within. _'At least I know his true colors... He's the same as everyone...' _Something was broken inside Lavi. Seeing Allen's face at this moment made him hyper-annoyed. The face was so distant from the old one, kind, confident and almost innocent. Now he was disappointed with him and himself. Just when the boy cursed at the redhead, Lavi stood up and without a word came back to his bedroom.

SLAM!

The anger was leaving him slowly with every deep breath the redhead took. He tried to analyze the earlier situation, but with his current state it was impossible. His mind wasn't thinking back, it was concentrated only on now. Now Lavi is angry at Allen. Now Lavi wants Allen to leave his apartment forever. Now Lavi is trying to keep his breath stable. Now Lavi wants to know what the hell happened. The anger was a symptom of care. Without the care there wouldn't be any anger, he would leave it alone. But it won't go away, he needed an explanation. He was too much concerned about Allen and his connection with the 4th April. Having calmed himself, he made his usual cold analysis.

_'…_

_...I can't think of anything...Not even the stupidest idea comes to mind. What the hell could happen back then? Shit! What the hell, Lavi! Normally you're always clever and have millions of theories or questions, and here you are with only one? "What the hell could happen?" Think, dammit!_

…

_...Surely, there is no point in asking him directly. I can also wait for his first move. But as well I can sit and watch growing grass..._

_...'_

Lavi purposely stopped thinking to himself and listened to the air. No sound was supposed to be heard at that time in the darkened apartment. But there was something in the air, a wave of human sobs. He put his blanket off and walked to the door, just to make sure the voice was real. It was, sound of muffled cry was very recognizable to Lavi. _'Very familiar...' _He reached for a handle and without squeaking opened the door. Trying not to be noisy, he tiptoed to the living room gropingly. The sobs were the destination that only ears could reach. Suddenly a soft, but stable, material met the redhead's knee, making him curse in his thoughts. Fortunately, it seems that the source of crying hadn't noticed a little shake of the couch. Lavi strained his eyes and saw the white locks, buried under a pillow with a flower pattern. _'Here I am! Now what?' _The boy was holding his pillow tightly as if he was trying to suffocate himself. A mumble was heard under, "No, please... Don't go...". The whisper was barely audible for Lavi, he only understood two sentences from the mumble flow. An uncomfortable feeling came down on him due to uncertainness of the further action he should take. Lavi wasn't sure Allen was sleeping or not. Crying of course, but in his sleep? _'Maybe it's a nightmare... A nightmare from 4__th __of April...'. _Making a final decision he put his left hand on boy's shoulder and shook him gently. There was no active response, Allen was still sobbing. _'You are sleeping or ignoring me?', _he tried the second time, also without a result. The redhead sighed, sat on the couch beside Allen and grabbed the pillow, in order to release it from the boy's grasp. As the thing was removed, there was a good view of Allen's face. The face full of sorrow and tears. Lavi took a closer look and noticed, that the boy had closed eyes and his mumbling hadn't stopped. _'Guy, you have a pretty strong sleep.', _he placed his mouth near the crying white and whispered softly, "Allen... Allen, wake up...". Allen shook his head from side to side as if he tried to get rid of the voice's source. "Allen..."

"Don't take me away from him..." Lavi shook at the sudden response from the still-sleeping boy.

"Allen...", he tried again. This attempt was successful. Well, that was what Lavi thought. Allen suddenly rose up quickly, opening his eyes and letting all left tears fall on his cheeks like a stream. In front of him there was his cohabitant, who didn't show any positive emotions on his face. "Hey..."

"Uh, Lavi?" exhaustion and embarrassment was heard. It wasn't his intention to be discovered in such a state. "I, uh..."

"Had a nightmare, I guess." Lavi ended the sentence. The boy wanted to nod, but after thought he shook his head. The redhead cocked his head in confusion. "No?"

"It wasn't exactly a nightmare, more of a..." the sentence was filled with hesitation and distrust. Allen wasn't sure if he was doing a right thing, but he wanted to confirm his expectations. "Lavi, is it normal for someone to reveal everything about himself to a stranger?"

"Probably no.", he knew where the white was heading. "But if you do so, then doesn't it mean he's not a stranger to you anymore? You can't be sure, of course, that he thinks the same, but sometimes it's good to give a try." Allen looked up with his red eyes and made a weak smile. Now he was certain what to do.

"What do you know about that day?" Lavi put his hand on his jaw and rubbed it in thought of the answer.

"I know a lot. I was in the circus tent that time, watching... you know." Allen's face darkened in fear. He was ready to take any reaction from Lavi's side.

"You saw what happened, right?" _'What is it about? Give me a clear answer, Allen!' _"You know what... or maybe who, was the reason?"

"I know that the culprit hasn't been captured yet. But the reason... was it a boy? The clown's son?" Allen moved back a little from the redhead. All pictures came back to his mind again, making him grab his head in agitation. Lavi moved closer to Allen and wrapped his arm around white's neck. The younger was shivering. "Allen...?"

"I..." voice was shaking, heart beating at the fastest rate, skin turning pale. "I... what if I... tell you... that I was..." he stopped, not having a courage to say the final words. Lavi's eyes were horrified but he didn't let go of Allen. No, he even tightened his embrace, fearing that the boy may make something stupid. "I was... that... son..."

"Allen? What are you talking about?" _'The boy was moving roughly beside the corpse, just like he had been swimming through the puddle of clown's blood. His cries weren't understandable, nobody even wanted to listen to them.' _"It... it was...you?"

_'No way...'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Hewood. The Local Park. Circus' camp place.**

**Afternoon. 4****th**** April, 2002. 7 years ago.**

"Allen! Allen!", a green-haired man wearing a tight, latex costume was walking through tent's, cages with dangerous animals inside, and passing by different kinds of people like jugglers, ballerinas, lion trainers and, mostly, clowns. "Jesus, nothing but problems with this damn kid. ALLEN! COME OUT!", everyone had looked in shock at the man before most of them laughed. Today's day was special for every circus performer. It was the National Circus Convention, taking place only once in two years. People all over the world are coming to see the biggest entertaining show ever seen. Performers have only 2 years to prepare for their show of life, being sure the audience is having lots of fun. "ALLEN! *pant* *pant* *pant* COME HERE, YOU LITTLE BRAT OR ELSE I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU INTO A PULP!". This year a new group will attend in the show: small, but well-known, circus group from Great Britain. Actually, one of the performers was wandering around the camp, screaming like a madman for a strange 'Allen'. The man was losing his patience quickly at not appearing boy. "That... Kid... Is...-"

"Oh, Troy. What's happening?" Before the one could start his cursing, in front of him appeared a clown. Clown, dressed in a costume with rainbow spots, wearing a half-meter long shoes with fur balls and having a white mask painted on his face.

"Give me a break, Mana!" The latex guy growled angrily. "You should train your son properly! We're out of white paint, there's nothing we can use for masks! We sent that idiot for some 10 minutes ago, but, as always, he's late!" The clown laughed at his friend's outburst.

"Come on. He's only 10, it's normal for him to be energetic and disobedient."

"But he shouldn't be disobedient the 20 minutes before the show, dammit!"

"Not 20 minutes, but 15." Mana giggled, starting a panic in Troy. "Don't worry, knowing him he'll come just 5 minutes before the show. However, there'll be no time for you to prepare, so I recommend you using my paint.", in his pocket there was a small jar of a white liquid. He tossed it to his friend. "Now, let's go to our tent. We need to get ready."

Two caravans away there was a square, where normal people were gathered. Some of them looked at the mini stores, buying candyfloss or popcorn for coming-next performance. Other ones were heading home, disappointed with a show from Ireland group and expecting nothing more from the British newbies. Two caravans away there was a small boy with a brown hair, dressed in a monkey costume. He was sitting next to a golden puppy, which was drinking a milk from a bowl the boy gave him. The puppy turned his attention to the generous person and jumped on boy's lap, licking his face as a sign of appreciation.

"Hahaha! No, stop! It tickles! Hahaha!" The boy grabbed the puppy in his arms and hugged him tightly. "Gosh, you're really an adorable doggy.", the dog wagged his tail violently, like it was going to detach from his butt.

"LADIES AND GENTELMEN! WE RECOMMEND TO COME BACK TO THE CIRICUS TENT FOR THE FURTHER SHOW! IN 10 MINUTES WE'RE GOING TO WELCOME THE NEWEST GROUP IN THE NATIONAL CIRCUS CONVENTION. THE GROUP FROM GREAT BRITIAN!" A cheerful voice came out of the speakers. The brown head looked up and sighed heavily.

"Listen, I have to go now. It's going to be a huge event for us, you know." The boy wanted to leave, but the puppy caught his leg with his toothless muzzle. "No. I'm so sorry, but I can't take you with me right now.", the doggy looked at the boy as if he hadn't understood what he was talking about. Whatever he told, that probably wasn't good for the animal, so he made a natural for him position. A puppy eyes fro a real puppy. The boy blushed at sudden cuteness and hesitated for a moment. There was only about 8 minutes left to the show. He grinned at the puppy, took him in his hand and run towards a British group's tent. "Mana! I'm back!", entering the tent he saw a group of people, staring at him with a death glare. He made a questioning look and it suddenly dawned on him. He hadn't bought the paint. "I... um... am sorry? Forgive me?", when everyone was coming closer to the boy, the colorful clown passed the crowd with a smile on his face.

"Allen! You're just in time for the final preparations!", all performers looked at the clown like he had just jumped from a 100 meter high building and didn't even crash a single bone. In other words: they were utterly shocked. "Come on, everyone! Get ready!" there were some whines and curses but decided to have their revenge on the boy later. "Now, Allen, I need some help with all those chairs for the last trick. We need to put- and hello? What do we have here?", the boy froze as he realized the animal, which he had hidden a little before coming to the tent, pulled his head out of the monkey costume. "Allen..."

"I'm sorry, but... On my way to store he was lying on a cold ground, completely exhausted, thirsty and hungry so I brought him to the convention and gave him some milk. He begged me not to leave him alone so... here he is!", with a childish behavior Allen explained everything on one breath. Mana smiled and petted puppy's head. "Mana, please! Can we keep it? Can we?"

"Uh, Allen. I think I told you about having a pet in our lifestyle. There is no chance for him to keep up with us, we'd be even lonelier than now."

"But I promise I'll take full care of him! Mana! Please!" whining attracted attention of all people being in the tent. Allen was near a crying-state. Puppy only looked at the boy with a confusion. "I'll give him food everyday, walk with him four times a day and play with him as much as he wants!"

"Allen, you know you won't-"

"Oh, I can also teach him some tricks! He looks very clever so it won't be a problem to me! Plus it may help with our future shows!"

"Allen, you know we don't use animals in our shows. We're completely against it, remember? Now, put the puppy to its previous place and get ready." The patience was slowly leaving Mana's voice, which made Allen even more angry.

"But I don't want to leave him! I don't! I don't!"

"Allen, that's enough already. Do as I say."

"No! I want to keep him! Why can't I!? Why!?"

"Because I said so!" Allen stood silent for a moment. It was the first time Mana rose his voice at him or even got angry because of him. "This is my final decision. Put him away." The brown headed was shaking with a fury. He was disappointed at clown. Other people, witnessing whole argument, whistled in Mana's unfamiliar anger. Some of Allen-haters even clapped their hands.

"You're cruel..." Allen held the puppy tighter, making the animal squeal. "You're a devil! A stupid devil!", he started to shout.

"Allen, you-"

"You're an idiot! I hate you! I completely hate you!", floods of tears were running down his cheeks. Tears full of anger and bitterness. Allen held the puppy and ran out of the tent.

"Allen! Come back, Allen!" the clown called behind him, but the words weren't allowed in Allen's ears. He completely ignored the cries after him. He ignored the fact he had to play on a scene in 5 minutes. Thoughts were only concentrated on Mana and his cruelty. He found an isolated spot and put the puppy on the ground, then sat near him, bringing his knees to his face. The animal whined and tried to attract boy's attention. The one looked up and scratched doggy's ear.

"He's so unfair. Acting like a jerk, because of nothing. I hate it.", he sniffed and rubbed his eyes from tears. "I hate him. Why won't he just keep you with us? Am I really that irresponsible? Jerk!"

"My, my. How come so much anger is in such a little boy?" Allen shook in surprise and turned around. The thing he saw was really...odd. It was a big... creature, or something like that. Yeah, a violet-skinned creature with a elf-or-gremlin-like ears, dressed in a funny, white suit, wearing small glasses and a big, black hat. The strangest thing in the... "persons" appearance was a big, unnatural smile. A smile not showing showing any good or bad intentions. The boy examined the intruder and came back to petting the puppy. "May I help you with something, monkey-boy?"

"It doesn't matter. There is no way to help me." Allen growled, still not free from anger at Mana.

"Maybe there is. Did somebody hurt you?"

"Not me, but that puppy!", Allen pointed at the animal. "That stupid, cruel Mana wants me to leave it on the street! It'll die there! I hate him!", he buried his face to hold back another streams of tears.

"I see. He really is an evil person.", the creature patted Allen's head. "I think I came up with an idea, boy."

"Really?" Allen looked up, showing an interest in monster's words.

"How about teaching him a lesson, so he won't do something like that anymore?"

"What kind of a lesson?"

"A very unforgettable lesson. Believe me, boy, he'll be surprised." Allen eyes glimmered with excitement in a thought of avenging the thrown puppy. "So what about that? We have a deal?" He pulled his hand.

"Yes, we have! Make that lesson the most unforgettable lesson in the world!" Allen shook hand's with the creature. To his surprise, the violet hand was soft an fluffy. _'It must be a costume.' _The boy smiled widely and left the place.

"Oh yeah, boy. I'll make sure it'll be..."

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**Now, now, now... Did I make a cliffhanger? If I did, then I'm very proud of this ^^**

**Actually Mana's death was the first thing that came to my mind after I had started to write "Neighbour". In normal Allen's past he was connected with a circus, right? Now you can think what will happen next, I guess you already know (damn, I made it too predictable to you -_-)**

**Ok, and about the history part. Yeah, the first discoverers of The New World were Vikings, not Columbus (he only made it more official). I had it on my history lesson, so don't argue with me xP**

**That chapter took me 8 pages... Don't expect me updating anything in this week xD**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed ^^**


	11. Circus Bloody Performance

**REVIEW PLEASE! A/N at the bottom!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 11: Circus Bloody Performance~~~~~~~~~~

It was a long night for Lavi and Allen. Especially for Allen. He hadn't expected himself opening to the redhead and sharing with him his life secret. But it didn't bother him too much. Somehow words were coming out of the mouth on their own will and going into redhead's ears. There hadn't been any respond whole time, nor any interruption. Lavi was quiet and concentrated. He wanted to remember every word, he didn't want to misunderstand anything Allen had said. His brain was working intensively as another sentence was said.

"...so I came back to the tent and found our group just before the show." Talking was stopped. Allen leaned on his couch, hands covering his depressed face, muffing his nervous breathing. Lavi wasn't sure if the silence, that came a moment ago, was a sign the white didn't want to talk anymore or he was making a long pause before another word flow. Allen looked at the redhead and saw him being concerned, shocked, confused. But not disgusted. The boy smiled weakly, making Lavi even more anxious. "You said you were at that time in the tent, right?"

"Yes, I was." Lavi scratched his neck.

"I think I don't have to tell you more if you saw it..." Allen looked everywhere but at Lavi. He knew leaving the redhead in uncertainty isn't a good idea, but recalling the worst part of the memory made him sick. It was something that he couldn't stand.

"I was witnessing, that's right." Lavi remembered. And wished he would forget. "But I didn't have a feelings like you."

"Better wish you wouldn't feel like that..." Allen found out the redhead was even closer than before. The feeling of someone beside him made him feel odd. The feeling made him want to explode his mask and look freely at person's face. "It's disgusting... It's like you're carrying the guilt for whole life. You seek for a purification, but you don't know were to search..."

"Purification... Forgiveness, I suppose..." Lavi put his arm on Allen's shoulders and moved the white closer. His face was put on crook of the redhead's neck. Stunned by a shock of the older's action, he felt tears appearing on eyes' corners. "You hate yourself." Small sobs started to appear from white's side. "Trying to act mature and tough, even when you're suffering inside. That's so childish." Those words were cold, blunt, but honest. From the beginning Lavi hadn't planned on comforting Allen, because then it would have been 'a psychological talk'. He didn't want to hurt him either. "You better start to act like your real self. Otherwise you're screwed, man." He held the boy tighter, who was fighting against crying. "You want to be a crap?"

"N-No..." _'Admit it, you're not an adult. You're still a kid.'_

"Then just cry!" Allen made an eye contact with Lavi, being on the edge of bursting into tears. The redhead made a warm smile. "Don't worry, you can cry in front of me without worries."

Lavi meant it.

Allen cried.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Hewood. The Local Park. Square in front of The Circus Tent.**

**Afternoon. 4th April, 2002. 7 years ago.**

"LADIES AND GENTELMEN! WE RECOMMEND TO COME BACK TO THE CIRICUS TENT FOR THE FURTHER SHOW! IN 10 MINUTES WE'RE GOING TO WELCOME THE NEWEST GROUP IN THE NATIONAL CIRCUS CONVENTION. THE GROUP FROM GREAT BRITIAN!"

"Grandpa! Grandpa, it's time to go!" Everywhere there were a sounds of people's excitement. More than a half of the audience were children, aged 6-13. All of them brought their parents, guardians or friends. Among them there was a red haired boy with sparkling, emerald eyes, trying to drag an old man towards the tent. "We'll be late! Come on!"

"You're too loud and too annoying, Lavi! Act your age!" Lavi pouted and released grandpa's hand. "I still can't believe I agreed to come here."

"But grandpa, the circus is amazing! It's like all those people entertain our eyes with colorful costumes, thrilling tricks and humor! It's a great thing!"

"For little children."

"Gosh, you're such a grumpy Panda...OUCH!" The boy felt a punch hitting his head. "It hurts!"

"Watch your mouth, Lavi. Or we're going home." Lavi looked up with irritation. He didn't want to go home since he had heard the British Group is very good.

"I'm sorry, grandpa. We can go home after this show. Can we stay here longer? Can we?"

"Ok, but then we're heading back!" Lavi grinned and entered the circus tent, where the performance was going to begin. They took their seats in the second row and waited for another 3 minutes (Panda-gramps was complaining whole the time) till the lights turned down. Everyone took a deep breath and before their eyes a small monkey-boy appeared. Standing under the gleam of light he was abnormally cute, Lavi heard giggling of affection. The boy took a white ball out of his pocket and dropped it on the floor. In one moment the ring was covered in fog, making everyone cough from an over-sweet scent. The redhead rubbed his eyes and waited for the smoke to clear up. Shadows appeared out of nowhere, forming a pyramid made of clowns with a monkey-boy on the top. _'How did they make it!? In that short time!? Amazing!' _Gawping, with the crowd, he clapped his hands, crying with amazement. The performers bowed their heads.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" A clown with a big, pink nose and yellow outfit stepped forward and smiled at audience. "We're happy to be with you today, on the National Circus Convention! We're coming from Great Britain and we'd like to-" Suddenly the clown was interrupted by a banana, stuffed inside his mouth. The monkey-boy jumped on the clowns head and made him fall on the ground. Everyone laughed in joy, when the boy made a monkey-like sounds, rummaging in clown's hair in hope to find some bugs to eat.

"Better be quiet, our pet don't like your talking." another clown spoke. This one was dressed in costume with a rainbow spots and big shoes. "Please, enjoy our show!" The show started.

"They're great!" The redhead shouted, looking enchanted at flying (well, jumping) performers, making some complicated figures, throwing a colorful balls and ribbons in the air and making everyone laugh. Magic, you can say. Children were under the spell, looking at clowns and then at the monkey boy, who was throwing bananas at people and putting banana's skin under performers' feet. "They're absolutely great, grandpa!"

"Those are tricks, false tricks, Lavi." The boy pouted again, not understanding why had his grandfather been annoyed all day. "They're just doing it for squeezing some cash out of poor people, who came to satisfy their spoilt children."

"I'm not spoilt! And they're entertaining people to entertain themselves! They like to do it!"

"When you grow up enough, you'll understand adults' world." Lavi looked at old man with a confusion, not paying attention at two clowns, who were riding a one-wheel bike and juggling with buckets of water. "Nobody does nothing if there's no benefit. And usually everyone wants two things: money or power." The redhead looked down, not completely understanding grandpa's words. _'But... But if everyone was doing everything for cash and power, then... there would be nothing!'_

"But not everyone is like that!"

"As I said, you have to grow up. You better watch the ring, there's going to be a final trick." Lavi wanted to know more about the adults' world, but his attention was drew at the tower, made of maybe twenty chairs, on which the clown with a spotted costume was standing.

"Now, everyone! We'd like to show you our newest trick! Push-ups on the tower of chairs! Our friend, Mana, is going to show this to you! Mana, are you ready? Everyone, ask him!"

"Mana! You're ready!?" the crowd of children asked in a perfect synchronization, making the clown laugh. Monkey-boy was making sure the tower wouldn't collapse before the trick. Mana grabbed the chair's backrest and... with a quick jump he placed himself above the tower, upside down, right hand holding the seat, left hand supporting his back. The audience took a deep breath when the tower shook grimly, but the boy on the bottom held it tight enough to calm down shaking. The storm of applause filled the tent, cheering for the clown and waiting for the further show.

"Mana seems to be ready! He's going to make 10 push-ups and then, full of grace, jump down to join us all!" the clown waved with his free hand at people and made a wide smile. "Let's count together with Mana!" Children were making sounds of joy, when the clown started to make push-ups. "Come on!

10...

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...AND!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three shots were heard in the circus. Everyone looked with shock at the area and didn't see anything. But only for a moment. The clown, who had been on the top of the chair tower, fell from a big height and hit the ground right beside the monkey-boy. The tower collapsed immediately and some seats landed on a few people's heads, making them cry in pain.

"What is it...? Is it a part of the show?" Lavi heard from an adult sitting next to him. He wasn't sure either.

"Mana? Mana!? MANA!" He turned his view to the monkey-boy, who was sitting right beside the fallen clown and crying his name in desperation. "Mana! What's going on!? Move! Move! Mana!" There was something horrible on his costume. A big, bloody-red stain.

"Allen..." Mana whispered softly at the nearly crying boy, putting his hand on a slim shoulder and covering a hole in his chest with another.

"Someone! Anyone, plea-" The monkey-boy was disturbed by speakers, which were switched on on making a laughing sound. The place froze in terror, when the stranger was having fun.

"Oh, Mana, Mana, Mana... Look, what your selfishness caused." the boy shivered at the sound of the voice. He seemed like he knew, who was speaking. " You should have kept the puppy. Now you won't make your son cry anymore." The speakers switched off. The audience started to panic, making the way through the tent's doors. Lavi felt the impulse of running away too, but his grandpa held him on the seat, explaining that now they might get lost among the people. The boy looked at the ring, seeing the monkey-boy crying over the man, who wasn't showing vital signs anymore. There was a blood all over his face, hands, costume, but he hugged the clown, hoping for a miracle. The performers circled around them two, trying to move the kid aside. But the one was resisting. The boy was moving roughly beside the corpse, just like he had been swimming through the puddle of clown's blood. His cries weren't understandable, nobody even wanted to listen to them.

"NO! MANA! NO! NO! LET GO OFF ME! MANA! DON'T TAKE ME AWAY FROM HIM! MANA! MANAAA!" Before Lavi could look at the end of the situation, his grandpa grabbed his hand and took him out of the place.

"I knew we shouldn't be here... I knew it from the beginning..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48th floor. Room 544. The living room.**

**7.01 a.m. The present.**

*Yawn* _'Geez, that was a hell nice sleep...' _Stretch. Stretch.

"Good morning, Lavi."

"Good mornin', Alle-WAAH!" Lavi moved back quickly, when he realized the white haired boy was right under him, lying in the couch with him. His chest was holding the boy down, not letting him to move.

"I was wondering when you're going to wake up." Allen made an innocent look on his face, which was definitely covering the troubled expression. "'Cause I'd like to be free, if you don't mind." Lavi looked away from the boy, trying not to show his embarrassment. He tried to recall how come he was lying on the top of Allen.

"_What? You're done?" He lifted Allen's face to see better. Tears seemed to stop coming out and the younger's breath was getting calmer._

"_I can't cry forever, can I?" He rubbed his eyes and looked into emerald eyes. "But, oddly, I feel much better..."_

"_Glad to hear it." Lavi smiled. "You seem to be tired. Go to sleep."_

"_Alright." The redhead sat up and patted white locks. The moment he turned to his bedroom's door, Allen felt a little empty inside, but he didn't want to tell it. He knew he'd already said too much to burden Lavi._

"_Allen." Their eyes met. "You want me to stay here until you fall asleep?" His face brightened, making grin on redhead's face._

"_If it won't bother you."_

_'Uh-huh, so that's how it went...' _Obediently he lifted himself, so Allen could sit on the couch normally and stretch himself in more professional way (he trained martial arts, after all).

"You could wake me up, if you wanted to go, Allen." He pouted. However he couldn't deny the fact he was comfortable. _'Geez, what am I thinking... I should buy myself something like a human pillow.' _The white chuckled while doing some exercise.

"You looked so adorable, that I didn't have a heart to wake you up." If out of shock your eyes could be bigger than your head, then Lavi's eyes would probably explode.

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**I'm... totally disappointed with this chapter...**

**I don't know even why... It just... doesn't feel right *Grrrr...***

**This is not the end of Allen's past! I need to explain some other things too! But this I'll put later, now we need to concentrate on the Present! It's Laven we're talking about!**

**This is rather short chapter (compared to my last one, which had above 4,500 words). It's due to my both lack of time and ideas. Especially time, but I need to wait 2 more days, and then I have a big weekend (5 free days! Wohoo!). Then I'll have a time to think of ideas, then I'll have ideas, then I'll write ^^**

**In this chapter you can be critical as much as you want. It's only a temporary permission!!**

**And I need to eat cookies!**

**I'm on a diet -_- Maybe lack of sugar in my blood causes lack of ideas? Naaaaaaah! No waaaay!**


	12. Is it strange? If you're odd

**REVIEW PLEASE!!! PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE!!**

**Author's note on the bottom!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 12: Is it strange? If you're odd…~~~~~~~~~~

"Lavi?" The eleventh day of Allen Walker's stop in room 544 had started. Today's conditions weren't pleasant for people. The weather forecast said yesterday, that today may be rainy and rather cold. What a coincidence, that they were right. "Hey, Lavi?" The white haired teenager wandered around seemingly empty apartment. No trace of missing redhead. The boy sighed in defeat and sat on the couch, thinking where his cohabitant disappeared. _'Since that time he has been acting really strange…' _The memorable night of confessions couldn't leave Allen's mind. So do Lavi's. That time, when his secret was revealed Allen was scared the relationship between him and the redhead might change. He was right. Just like a weather presenter in TV. The boy pulled out a cell phone from his pocket ad started to type.

'From: Allen

To: Lavi

Topic:

Hi. Where are you?'

SEND.

At first though the mail seemed too lame. _'But what else should I write?' _Allen sighed and took a remote to turn on television. Two newscasters showed up and talked about a problem with taxes in the government. Sighing, he looked hopefully at the small phone, waiting for an answer. Staying in room 544 for a long period of time wasn't making Allen feel comfortable.

BIBIBI – BI – BI – BI – BIBIBI!

He jumped and took his cell phone.

'From: MOBILE CENTER

To: XXXXXXX

Topic: Be a millionaire!

Do you want to make your wishes come true? No worries!

Today may be your lucky day! With this mail you can-'

DELETE.

'_It's unbelievable…' _Allen missed the chance and sighed in annoyance. He hoped it would be Lavi. But it wasn't. The topic of newscasters' conversation changed into healthy lifestyle being more expensive. The phone was quiet. It made him more upset. The weather also was bringing him down. Though it was morning it was as dark as at night. Heavy raindrops were hitting the windows, playing their natural melody, which was soothing Allen's ear.

BIBIBI – BI – BI – BI – BIBIBI!

The disharmony among TV woman's voice, falling rain and Allen's thoughts was interrupted by a signal. Less eagerly the white picked up the cell.

'From: Lavi

To: Allen

Topic: Re:

Morning! I had got a call from my work and I had to leave early, sorry for not noting you. It seems I'll be stuck here for an hour, so don't worry or anything. Gosh, I'm starving! Komui hurried me so much, that I didn't have any time to eat breakfast. And it's so unfair! I was supposed to have got free day! I want to go home T-T'

'_Heh, that guy. No wonder why it took him so long to answer.' _All worries faded away with an over-sized mail from Lavi. Allen looked outside. The world didn't seem to be as gloomy as before the reply. Now that he knew Lavi is fine, he wondered if the redhead brought with himself an umbrella. He read the mail again and again, and fell into a lying position on the couch. Thinking about an answer, he typed again.

'From: Allen

To: Lavi

Topic: Re: Re:

I see. Better buy yourself something to eat or you may get sick again. The weather isn't good, so don't get yourself a cold when you come back.'

SEND.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Rose Street. "L'Ordre Noir". The kitchen**

MAIL! MAIL!

The day was depressing. It was cold and dark outside. The rain seemed heavier in every minute. But despite the poor weather, the restaurant seemed much crowded than usually. The place needed full staff, so all employees were called early in the morning, not caring if they had free day or medical break.

"Rabbit, go to the table 6!"

"I'm coming, Mr. Reever!" Lavi held with his first hand a soufflé with tea ad sugar and with his second he held mobile phone to read the message he had just received. The day for him started annoyingly, so mailing with Allen gave him a little rest.

"Put that cell down!" Australian cook couldn't stand unprofessional behavior of the redhead.

"Can't do that. It's important." He started to push the buttons with his free thumb. He reached the table 6 and put ordered dish in front of customers. "Voilà. Voulez vous quelque chose d'autre?" Since the time Allen moved in, they had been learning French intensively and he was able to remember some useful phrases. French guest politely thanked the waiter and started to taste their high-expensive food. Lavi came back to the kitchen and took advantage of not doing anything to write more to Allen.

'From: Lavi

To: Allen

Topic: Re: Re: Re:

The worst thing is that I've forgotten my wallet… And my umbrella… But Yuu told me he'll lend me some money for a sandwich and for a taxi, so I won't have to wait for the bus. Man, this day totally sucks. Only 40 minutes left and then sweet freedom!'

"Baka Usagi! Stop your rendezvous and give me a hand!" Annoyed Japanese man shouted at Lavi, who almost dropped his phone in surprise.

SEND.

"Alright, chill out. Geez..." He went to the kitchen sink and started to wash dirty glasses, plates and cutlery. "Why the heck we have to do this?"

"Shut up, you're giving me a headache." Kanda growled and when Lavi wanted to answer back, his cell called again. "Shit, Baka! Can't you just turn this damn thing off?"

"No, I can't." He smirked and reached for phone. "And what, Yuu? Are you jealous?" He turned on the screen and read information 'You've got a message from: Allen. Do you want to read it?' Open. Everything ran smoothly, except death aura from the Japanese.

"The hell I'll be jealous, Baka. Who's that you're mailing?" The redhead smirked at Kanda and came back to reading the mail. His face was firstly delighted but then it turned blue, showing pure horror. "What the hell?"

"No way! He can't be serious!" _'H-He…?' _Kanda was surprised, that the mailer is a male. Lavi whined, ignoring his cleaning duty and typing an answer.

"Who's that?"

"My tutor. He wrote I'm going to have a test as soon as I come back." His face fell. "I'm not prepared completely…"

"You're mailing with your tutor whole the time?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So last mails were only about the test?" Lavi blinked in surprise. _'Why is he so curious?' _"And you get oddly excited, when you're hearing that annoying signal." _'Wow, I've underestimated his observation skills'_ Lavi shrugged his arms and came back to drying plates. "Che. You've become weird."

"Thanks for the compliment." Kanda's gaze wasn't broken. It observed Lavi's unchanged expression of boredom and annoyance.

"Since your flu you've been behaving like a total freak."

"Owie! It's starting to hurt, Yuu!" He whined and put last plate on dryer. "Ok, I'll be going then. See ya tomorrow, Yuu!"

"Stop calling my name over and over again, damned Rabbit!!!" Avoiding flying frying pan, Lavi locked himself in the changing room. He opened his locker and started to undress himself from the waiter uniform. Inside his shelf there was a mirror. He looked deeply into his own, green eyes and examined his face. _'What did Yuu mean by calling me 'weird'? I'm acting as normal as normally.' _He put on his black shirt, blue jeans and wrapped his head with black bandanna. He looked outside to see the weather hadn't changed a little. With a heavy sight he took his jacket and went out. The world seemed so depressed while raining, that made Lavi feel down. No longer was he waiting, when a blue taxi came. He went in and gave the destination. _'I hope my 'weird' personality hadn't affected Allen.'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". 48****th**** floor. Room 544. The living room.**

**4.22 p.m.**

"Ok, now let's see the results." Allen took a sheet of paper away form the older redhead. As promised, Lavi had a test of French language. The white took his red pen and started correcting all mistakes. The pen was moving furiously, leaving red marks near every sentence. The movement was eye-catching, that Lavi found himself staring at it whole time. Or maybe staring was only an excuse to hide a brainstorm inside Lavi's head. Feeling an uncomfortable silence, Allen caught the redhead's attention. "How was work?"

"Très bon." Not enthusiastically, Lavi answered, that made Allen chuckle. "The place was crowded and I had to serve two customers from France. Though they knew English I treated them in their own language and they even understood me." Allen congratulated him, not leaving his eyes and pen from the test. "Later, Yuu forced me to help with cleaning the dishes and we were both talking, and…" Unexpected change in Lavi's tone of voice made Allen look up from the paper. The redhead realized he gave away his mood and, with Allen's worried gaze, he sighed. "Allen… am I weird?" The younger boy widened his eyes.

"Your friend told you you're weird?"

"You know, it's not like I care or anything." His expression told the same, which made Allen a little confused. "But I really have a feeling that something changed. So, am I weird?" The younger thought over the question.

"Well, you're not wearing girly pants on your head and singing Christmas songs. That would be totally weird." Both laughed for a moment, when the white's expression became serious. "But maybe there's something about that 'change' part." Lavi made an 'Hmm…' sound and started to think. _'I guess I feel just like I've always felt. No mental change.' _He looked hopefully at Allen, asking for some hints about that mysterious "change". "Let's see. I hadn't known you before, so it'd be difficult to compare current you with past you."

"So how can we assume, that I've changed?"

"It's more of a premonitionthan a fact. Subjectively, I think you've become more open to people." Lavi tilted his head in confusion, giving not an intelligent face.

"And how can you tell I wasn't social?" Allen shrugged, explaining that it was only a premonition. Lavi sighed in doubt that the younger was right. The feeling from before was probably false. "It's almost like a theory, that I became good, kind, generous and all those phantasmagorias."

"I don't agree with it, actually." The redhead turned his face and saw a usual smile. _'He's probably mocking at me.'_

"Yes, and it's because I've been a total bastard to begin with." Allen laughed hardly, making Lavi pout.

"In my opinion, you've already been good, kind, generous from the beginning." Now it was Lavi's turn to make wide eyes. Feeling redhead's shock, Allen felt slightly embarrassed. His cheeks showed it undoubtedly.

"It's just the fact that you don't know me good enough." Lavi tried to stay with his statement.

"But about this fact I'm 100% sure." Allen resisted.

"No, I'm not kind."

"Yes, you are."

"Prove it."

"You let me stay here."

"Then get out of here."

"Ok." With an innocent face he stood up.

"No! I mean, don't go. Just sit down!"

"Ok." With the same innocent face he sat down. _'Damn. He's doing it on purpose…' _Feeling completely tricked, Lavi laughed at himself. "Now you see who you are."

"It serves me right." Allen grinned, looking at the test to correct the final mistake. Lavi lay on the couch, trying to remember when was the last time he had thought about himself. In a second the white gave him back his test, saying that it turned to be quite good. _'Thank you, Heavens, for my reliable memory.' _All mistakes Allen explained and after they had finished, the younger offered making some coffee. Having been left alone, Lavi thought over the conversation with Yuu and Allen. Certainly, the better one was with Allen, but still he couldn't figure out what Japanese meant. _'I'm a hypocrite. I said I didn't care what Yuu said and yet I've been thinking about it whole day…' _He decided to get up and go to Allen. In the kitchen the boy was sitting on a table top, staring at the green kettle. Noticing someone else's presence, he turned around and smiled apologetically at the redhead.

"I'm sorry, but I have no power to bring the water to the boil faster." The white stood up, thinking sitting on a table top is impolite. "Or something happened, maybe?"

"Heh, I guess it's one of those days, when I ask questions without ay sense." Allen tried to encourage Lavi to speak by waiting patiently. "Umm… Allen… What are you thinking of me?" To make the situation even more ridiculous, the kettle at the same time whistled. Allen shook off his confusion and found his voice.

"Um… About you?" The younger ran his hand on his face. "You mean… I mean… I have to be honest like 'OMG, you're gorgeous!' or painfully honest?" Lavi chuckled, feeling kind of stupid for asking such a 'personal' question.

"Be as honest as you can. I won't mind." Allen gulped, not completely understanding where Lavi is heading.

"Then… At the beginning you're…" The boy carefully picked up words. "...as I said earlier, you're kind, generous." Lavi expected something more than only superlatives, but he didn't disturb. "You're also very clever, have a great memory. However I can't say you're tidy, 'cause this apartment isn't a good example of proper cleaning." The redhead laughed.

"Yeah, I admit, but since you've moved in the place became more suitable to live in."

"It's because there's nothing else to do here than to clean." Allen nodded. "You're also quite selfish, but not so much to harm anybody." _'Was that supposed to calm me down?' _"You may analyze every situation coldly and subjectively. You probably ask yourself billions of questions and can't answer a single one." Slowly Lavi's face was changing from happy-silly to serious. Hearing about himself in Allen's point of view made him curious. "You keep a distance between others and you. Every person, who tries to make a step closer, you try to drive away. It makes you completely dishonest with people, yet it doesn't make you a constant liar." The situation became inconvenient for Lavi. He was feeling like he was being treated with an X-ray. "And I found out that there's a problem, which is bothering you. It's something really deep and you're trying to erase it with alcohol." The redhead felt ashamed by his actions. Normally, when a stranger claimed Lavi is drinking he didn't care about it. But this time was completely different. He treated Allen differently. No one knew why. "I'm sorry, I became too honest. Just forget about it." The kettle was finally noticed and Allen poured slightly cooled down water into two cups. The white nervously laughed and gave a cup of coffee to Lavi. "All in all, I think you're a great person. It's just me, who say unnecessary things. I'll let you to pay me back. It's your turn to say your view about me." The redhead was still wonderstruck after younger's description.

"I think you're amazing…" It was told half-consciously. Allen looked surprised and laughed.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Seriously, you're amazing…" Allen saw Lavi wasn't joking at all. He was dead serious. Taking his words into his heart, he blushed and smiled gently.

"Thanks." _'I probably made more steps than only one…'_

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**COMEBACK! Throw rice on me and put a red carpet in front of me!**

…

…

**No, that would be a waste of rice T-T **

**And I don't have a red carpet. I have a red-pink towel. Is it enough?**

**Ok, now… I know… Long time, no see. It seems my block took a break and let me write this chapter. FINALLY, because I was feeling bad for leaving "Neighbour" for so long T-T I hope you all forgive me, now I'll concentrate on this story and only. And then I'll come back to write "ABF".**

**Time to move the plot!**

**Extra information: Lavi's French xD Yeah, he's getting better and better. But it doesn't mean I'm good. Complaints please direct to Translate Google. I'm trying my best, to make reasonable sentences. And here you have translation of Lavi's conversation:**

**S'il vous plaît. Existe-t-il****autre**** chose ****que****vous****voulez**** ? – Here you are (or 'Please'). Is there anything else you want?**

**Très**** bon. – Great.**

**That's all for now. I hope you'd like it ^^ And I promise I won't leave the story too long -_-''**


	13. Emotion out of control may be vulnerable

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

~~~~~~~~~~ CHAPTER 13: Emotions out of control may be vulnerable~~~~~~~~~~

Another days had passed. Since the 'serious' talk about personalities Lavi hadn't mentioned anything about Allen's removal. Not even once. The younger's presence in the room 544 became so normal, that it didn't bothered Lavi anymore. Though it couldn't be said, that the redhead had forgotten. He knew that one day the white would have to leave his house. He knew and he wasn't feeling right because of that. The feeling, which couldn't be described, made Lavi anxious by every thought of Allen's disappearance.

"Lavi, I'm going shopping!" Every time he saw this cheerful, innocent face made him feel happy. The time they were spending together was passing slowly, so happier for him. "Maybe you want to come with me?" There was no picture of him, being left behind in that lonely apartment. _'But this day will come, for sure...' _Lavi nodded in agreement and dressed himself properly to go out. The summer was reaching its end. That meant the beginning of school is coming. "We need to go to the supermarket. Your fridge is empty."

"It's because you're eating freaking too much!" He didn't hold back the sarcastic tone in his voice. That was the fact. Allen appetite is equal to the appetite of cow. Well, probably one stomach extra is needed. Allen pouted, trying to ignore what his companion said.

"Do want to buy something particular?"

"Hmm... a bottle of rum may be good." Allen twisted his face, showing disgust to Lavi's alcoholic offer. "What? I just feel like drinking. No downs or something, ok?" The white looked at the older doubtfully, but then sighed. He wanted to show gratitude for staying at room 544 and that's why Allen bought various types of things.

"Fine." Lavi chuckled and patted white locks of the neighbour. "But don't overdo it, unless you want to cut your head, instead of your hand."

"I won't, I won't." He assured, quickly remembering the events from his last hangover. In a minute they found themselves in a big hall with uncountable amount of products. No longer had they thought when Lavi took basket and started to look on shelves to find anything suitable for his taste and for empty places in the fridge. The redhead sighed, finding within him a hidden urge to eat something sweet. Deciding to buy a lollipop, he turned to the sweets section. Browsing through unbelievable amount of sugar and calories, he picked a small lollipop with lemon flavor. When he was putting the sweet inside the basked, something caught off his guard. Small whines were heard to his left. He noticed a little girl with a dark-blue hair and golden gaze. Her little, tanned hand tried to reach a bag of jelly bears, which was placed on one of the highest shelves. Lavi was observing her for a while and with a small chuckle he moved closer and took the wanted bag. "Hey, you want that one?" The girl stared at him with her golden orbs, eyes seemed to be wider than in normal person. For a moment a shiver ran through his spine when the girl smiled widely, nodding gratefully. From her looks Lavi assumed she couldn't be older than 13 years. Carefully, he handed over the jelly bears and tried to smile back.

"Obrigado." Lavi cocked his head. The girl was using an unknown to Lavi language. _'Maybe she thanked me?' _Trying to response to the strange word, someone appeared behind redhead's back.

"Rhode, onde você estava? Eu estava procurando por você!" Again, this strange language! Lavi looked back to see the source of sounds. The face, that appeared in front of him was very familiar to the face of the guy, that he met in "L'Ordre Noir" with Allen a week before fire in the 543. The same Portuguese look, the same not-so-friendly pose, the same black locks. It was Tyki Mikk, the guy who made the white boy very anxious. "Ah, desculpe! Sorry for bothering by Rhode. I lost the sight of her, when she ran for candies." He brought the tanned girl, whose smile seemed never to leave her childish face. Lavi nodded and backed off a little, feeling uneasy under two golden stares. "O quê? Isn't your face familiar?" The redhead gulped when the Portuguese came closer to his face, analyzing every shown feature.

"Lavi!" Both men jumped in surprise and the girl, named Rhode, looked back to see the empty corridor. "Lavi! I'm waiting for you at the exit!" Allen's voice was rather distant, but still the redhead was able to hear it. Rhode again stared at Lavi with her smile, which this time was bigger than before. Tyki followed her mood, making Lavi more confused.

"I see everything is fine with Allen. After that accident." The last word was unusually accented, making the girl chuckle. "I guess we'll be going, Rhode. Vamos lá!" Rhode obediently came closer and grabbed man's tanned hand. "It was nice to see you, boy. Tell Allen I'm sending him my regards." Lavi couldn't move his eyes from leaving Portuguese pair. "Adeus ." Rhode looked back at the redhead and waved softly, yet in a scary way. _'What the hell is wrong with them? Surely Allen's Master has strange friends... Oh crap, I have to go!' _Shaking off his thoughts he grabbed the basket and rushed to the checkout. The fact, what wasn't realized, was that both Portuguese people had been observing the redhead all the time. Against the market's restrictions, Tyki pulled out a box of cigarettes and lit one of them. Moreover, Rhode took the bag of jelly bears and tore it, eating the sweets immediately.

"Amigo..." The girl talked to the older. "...do you think this guy knows, where the whitey is living right now?" Tyki puffed out gray smoke and rubbed his neck.

"I doubt Walker would involve someone in our little game. Nevertheless, it won't hurt using him a little bit."

"Ruivo doesn't seem to know who we are. He's so cute. Can I make him my new toy?" Rhode gave Tyki an innocent look on her already evil face.

"Do whatever you want, but firstly we must deal with Walker's problem."

"But how are we supposed to do this? We don't even know where's he hiding." Suddenly a madman's smile appeared on Tyki's face.

"Don't worry. The bait has already been sent." Rhode looked a little bit confused. "Sometimes saying only "Hello" can make a bird fly out of its nest." She blinked a few times before she realized what her companion meant. She followed an abnormal smile with eyes glimmering from excitement.

"Oh, Tyki, astucioso bastardo."

"Obrigado, Rhode."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". Floor 48th. Room 544. The living room.**

**1.14 p.m.**

"Ok, I'm going to unpack all things. Could you prepare the table?" Lavi groaned as Allen asked for getting rid off books and newspapers, which were all over the table. Reluctantly, the redhead started to sort all the mess and clean the place. All books were put on a new made shelf and the papers were thrown on a couch.

"Ready." Allen chuckled to himself and went out of the kitchen. He was holding two glasses and two bottles: one rum bottle and the second, water. The redhead clapped his hands and reached immediately for the alcohol, pouring it to the glass and drinking it quickly. He sighed in satisfaction. "Ah, what a nice taste!"

"You surely seem to be happy." The white chuckled and poured some water.

"It's because I haven't drunk it for a long time!" Again he filled up, but this time he sat on the couch, looking at the younger. "Hey, maybe you want some?"

"No, thank you." Allen refused the offer without a thought. "Firstly, I don't like alcohol. Secondly, I'm underage."

„Too bad for you." Lavi took a sip from his glass. "Don't get worried when I get too drunk."

"And what's with this statement?"

"It's that I have a guardian, who would take care of me, if I passed out." Allen laughed and shook his head in disbelief. Lavi emptied another glass. School is coming back, so he had to react. "Oh!" Allen looked up from his glass. "I've forgot to tell you something."

"What is it, Lavi?"

"Your Uncle's friend." Allen looked up, showing that he didn't understand what he meant. "This guy from the restaurant, who was with you once, sends you 'Hello'." _'A guy that was with me? Wait a minute... No, it can't be...!' _Suddenly Allen's face paled. He dropped his glass on the floor, making the carpet wet. "A-Allen?" The white quickly stood up, his eyes covered with pure horror. _'Shit, they're bringing Lavi into it...I have to run away!'_

"I think I'm a little bit tired. Don't worry." Lavi also stood up, grabbing Allen's hand to make him lie down on the couch. The white obediently did what was expected.

"You're really ok?" The redhead showed his concern.

"I'm fine." _'Bullshit...' _"You better finish up your drink."

"I'm a little bit smashed already." He said, though he reached for another glass. "You're surely that 'friend' of your Uncle doesn't bring you any bad memories?" Allen looked up, widening his eyes even more. "A week before your room's destruction I had hear a strange sounds, coming from your apartment. It was like you were arguing and turning someone back." Allen backed off a little. He got scared of being revealed. "It was Tyki, wasn't it?" The white turned his head around.

"Drink whole glass." Allen asked Lavi, which was rather awkward.

"What? What was that?"

"Just drink it and I'll answer you." Lavi looked suspiciously, but then did as he was told. In a second his brain started to send symptoms of getting drunk. Seeing redhead being more smashed Allen smiled. Sadly. "Yes, it was him. But it wasn't a quarrel."

"Then what was that?" Cheeks were crimson from alcohol and a vision was getting blurry.

"He just came to remind me something I hadn't done." Lavi still didn't seem to be convinced, but the state in he had already been prevented him from logical thinking. "It's nothing, really."

"Bullshit, Allen." The way the redhead was talking also was an effect of being drunk. The white smiled and reached for the bottle of rum. "No, don't wanna..."

"You'll feel better after drinking it."

"No..." Allen started to get nervous. He wasn't sure how the redhead behaved while being drunk. He never experienced it. But it had to be done. He had to make Lavi pass out.

"And will you drink when I drink some?" After saying this, Allen took the bottle and poured rum down his throat. Lavi looked in shock, mixed with amusement. The white sighed heavily and his cheeks started to get pink. "Now, deal is a deal."

"Why are you doing this? You said you don't want to."

"I can change my mind from time to time."

"Bullshit, Allen." As the deal said, Lavi took another big gulp of rum. He came to the point, when a hangover and a lack in memory are guaranteed. "You have something inside of you."

"And what could it be?" Allen smiled gently. His eyes were totally emotionless. But Lavi couldn't notice it.

"Hard. Bad. Painful." His talking started to become a drunken mumble. He was very familiar with being drunk, as before Allen showed up he had been drinking and drinking. "You better stop."

"Why is that?" The voice became hollow.

"I'm worrying. I'm worrying very much."

"About what?"

"About you." The silence came between two men. Unconsciously, Lavi took bottle and gulped again. "After that stupid fire you're worrying me."

"That's unnecessary of you. I told you I'm fine." His lies became too obvious in Lavi's ears.

"Bullshit, Allen. Fucking bullshit." Good thing the redhead was looking at the bottle, because Allen started to act in other way than before. He was moved and irritated in the same way. The younger grabbed older's collar and moved him closer, so their eves were at the same level. Never before had Lavi been so close to anyone. Their noses were touching, making Lavi feel something strange inside himself. His emerald eyes were facing the gray orbs, full of not understandable emotion.

"Why..." He whispered, not breaking his eye contact. "Why couldn't you just ignore me? Ain't I just a nuisance like anybody else? Ain't I just a mere human being for you?" Lavi shook his head lightly. His eyes were captured and movements were completely blocked. Allen turned up his voice."Why do you care!?" He shouted in redhead's face. After few moments of silence he hid his head down, leaning it against Lavi's chest. "Why... Am I really worth it? Why is it, Lavi?" He was completely stunned. The older was half-blinded by alcohol, yet other part of his brain ordered him to stay cool. But it was temporary.

"Because you..." Allen looked up, willing to hear an explanation. "You..." He looked down, drowning in those gray rings.

"I...?" But the sentence never came as Lavi suddenly crushed lips with the younger. The liquid made its work, taking away whole control of Lavi's actions. He didn't give it a thought. It was an impulse. The arisen desire after looking at those glassy eyes, those wet from alcohol lips and those cheeks like roses. The only thought that came was _'I have to kiss him...' _and that's how it went. He kissed Allen strongly, yet gently. The taste of white's warm lips was making the redhead want more. A weird thing was that Allen wasn't objecting. He agreed on this kiss. He wanted to make Lavi satisfied for a moment, though he didn't expected it that way. He lifted himself up, parting his legs and sitting on the redheads lap, making himself more comfortable to kiss back. In a second, which was as long as an eternity, the world disappeared in both men's minds. Lavi started to enjoy the will from white's side, so he licked his lips, trying to gather more taste. As the dark thoughts went away, Allen opened his mouth, allowing the older to explore it completely. This moment was too fast. Single moans started to come out of his throat, making Lavi more passionate. _'Lavi, please... Please, don't confuse me...' _The mind started to overwhelming the desire. He had to run away. Disappear and never show in this city again. He had to leave Lavi or he may bring him misfortune. He didn't want to be the cause of other important person's suffering again. "Lavi..." But he couldn't say more as the redhead came back hungrily. Allen felt as his eyes started to gather hot tears, which later fall down his cheek. He felt guilty for making Lavi like this. _'Please, Lavi. Forgive me...' _Suddenly the lips contact was interrupted. Lavi moved back and gasped painfully for the air. His stomach started to hurt like hell, as if someone punched it. He looked down to see a small fist, placed on his belly. Allen was shaking with anger at himself. The older looked up at younger's miserable face, when the one was withdrawing his fist.

"Allen..." He said his name with a questioning tone, completely bothered by crushed insides.

"I'm so sorry, Lavi..." Allen lifted his hand and, posing it inflexibly, he hit the redheads neck powerfully. Green eyes shot open in a pain on his neck, but he couldn't even say a word. The world went into complete darkness and the last thing he saw were white locks, moving further and further away from him.

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**OH NO! ALLEN IS TORMENTING LAVI!**

**Ok, you can't say it's a quarrel. It's a complete rescue... However you want to put it in words -_-**

**Allen has to run away. Poor Lavi. After so magical for him moment he had to be beaten. I pity him (oh, wait... it's actually me, who hurt him... DAMN! Gomene, Lavi!)**

**And here we have, Tyki came back. This time with Rhode ;] As they're Portuguese, they can speak Portuguese, right? I used it a little with a help of google!**

**I'm going to translate what were they talking about:**

**Obrigado - Thank you**

**Rhode, onde você estava? Eu estava procurando por você! - Rhode, where were you? I was looking for you!**

**Ah, desculpe! - Ah, I'm sorry!**

**O quê? - What?**

**Vamos lá! - Come on!**

**Adeus – Goodbye**

**Amigo – Friend (or in this context you can say Partner or Brother)**

**Ruivo – Redhead**

**Astucioso bastardo – Crafty bastard**

**Yep, I think I like Portuguese ^^ It sounds funny, when I'm trying to say it xP**

**That's all, folks! Now let's see what's coming next!!**


	14. Escaping from need in need

**As normally. REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 14: Escape from need in need~~~~~~~~~~

'_I have to hurry up. The clock is ticking too fast.' _thought Allen, when he signed some papers in the skyscraper's reception desk, claiming his departure from room 544. The urge to get away from this place was getting bigger and bigger with every second. After what he did, there was no way to stay there anymore. _'Shit, shit, shit. From all possible scenarios why did it have to turn out like this? Shit!' _He slammed the desk, making receptionist Ms Lee jump in fear. Noticing his inappropriate behavior, he excused himself and signed last document, breaking the latest connection with the skyscraper "13". The white grabbed his entire luggage and rushed towards the exit. Whole way he was thinking about his cohabitant, left in the apartment drunk, hurt and unconscious. _'Shit, Lavi. I hope I didn't damage you seriously… Shit!' _He cursed at himself a few times before reaching a black Mercedes Benz. Inside the long haired redhead was sitting and waiting with a cigarette lit in his mouth. When the man noticed coming Allen Walker, he turned on the car's engine and ordered the boy to put his luggage on the backseat. Everything was done obediently and quickly. Allen took his seat on the passenger's side and waited for the beginning of escape.

"Everything settled, Allen?" The old redhead asked, puffing out a cloud of smoke, which filled whole driver's cab. Lungs of the white head weren't pleased by the sudden rise of nicotine in the air, so the younger was forced to cough rapidly.

"Yeah." After coughing attack he found his voice. "I gave them a fake address of my new location and signed everything needed." The car moved and rode through the long, Glorious Street. "Where are we going now, Master?" The driver opened car's window and threw away already ended cigarette.

"As far as it's possible. Those Noahs are following hard on our heels. Especially yours." Allen leaned his right elbow on the car's door and rested his chin on his palm. Anger was had been covering him all the time since Lavi mentioned about Tyki.

"And let's guess why they're aiming at me. Shall we, Master?" He was also angry at the old redhead. It's because of him and his enormous amount of money he owed to Noahs. "Why didn't you tell me I have to pay them 2 million dollars!? What did you do with this money anyway!?"

"None of your business, idiot." Allen sighed in annoyance at Master's objection.

"For 7 years I've been doing nothing but paying your damn debts."

"And for 7 years I've been doing nothing but putting up with your arrogance." _'Of course, who is putting up with whose arrogance?' _the white thought angrily. Both males were passing by every building and street of the centre of the city, trying to find their way out to the end. _'This is probably the last time I'm being here around…' _The sad thought came over. It was the first time he got so attached to a certain place. Not only place but also… "Idiot, why are making such a face?" He looked at his reflection in a wing mirror. The look-alike, which appeared in front of him, was completely lifeless and his eyes were bothered by a certain person, who he left about an hour ago.

"None of your business…" The older only 'tched' at younger's answer refusal. Buildings outside became smaller and more countryside-look like. They were leaving the city. Allen was still wondering how Lavi was doing. Did he wake up? Or maybe not? _'Will you remember what I have done…?' _He moved his hand to touch his lips, which lately were in use. Very odd use. He couldn't understand why he let something like this to happen. Not only let, but why did he enjoy it!? He got carried away by the moment. _'So foolish of me…' _The only thing that Allen wished was not to meet Lavi ever again. He probably wouldn't stand facing him directly after hurting him. And… kissing. The white still could recall the images of that time. The kiss that Lavi gave him was the best answer to the question 'Why does he care about him?' He accepted it fully by sitting on the redhead's lap and slowly moving his own mouth for more. He couldn't stop, he wanted to feel Lavi. He wanted to deepen the contact with him and taste his lips more. It was almost like trying to suck out whole alcohol from Lavi's mouth and erase his mental pain with it. _'But instead of relief, I'm feeling even more depressed.' _Coming back from his flashback the white sighed heavily and pretended to be interested in changing surroundings.

"I hope you haven't done something stupid." The red driver wanted to drag attention on him.

"And what could be stupid for you?" Somehow Allen felt like being sarcastic today. _'My life is even more ironical than my personality...'_

"What about that other guy, who you had been living with the whole time?" The white's throat tightened in question about his drunken cohabitant.

"He won't give us troubles. I took care of everything." In some way it was truth. He took care of Lavi by knocking him out and leaving him without a word. But everything had to be done for the redhead's safety. Master only nodded and, with his free hand, pulled out a new cigarette and lit it.

"That's good to hear. He's not our problem anymore."

"Yeah… He's not…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Glorious Street. Skyscraper "13". Floor 48****th****. Room 544. The bedroom.**

**3.55 p.m.**

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

'_Oh shiiiiiiiit… What the hell…' _Lavi lazily opened his eyes. I wasn't feeling well. Alcohol started to form a huge headache. And so, there were two different sources of pain: his stomach and neck. His mind was to hazy to do simple motions, like getting up and answer the knocking door. He turned around and covered his head in quilt. _'Wait… Since when I have my bedroom quilt in living room?' _This time he forced his aching body to get up and analyze his position. He was teleported from the living room to his bedroom and he was lying in his bed, instead of being on the floor. _'What the… Maybe Allen brought me here? Allen…'_

"Shit, Allen!" This time he shot like a racket from his bed and ran to the living room. He looked everywhere with his body, jolted by a wave of pain with every step he took. "Allen!" Something was wrong. He couldn't find any trace of the white. Even his belongings were gone.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

The situation drove him crazy. He couldn't gather his thoughts into one, reasonable piece. Every memory was shattered into tiny fragment.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Knocking became more annoying and annoying, so the redhead growled and, violently, opened the door. In front of him appeared the Japanese man, Yuu Kanda. Lavi looked at him, his glare accusing the guest for disturbing his already disturbed peace.

"Baka, what the hell is with your face?" Kanda was shocked by his friend's appearance. The one was completely pale, dark rings under his eyes showing exhaustion, yet the face was completely covered by anger and confusion. Not only his looks were miserable, but his smell wasn't as pleasant. He smelled like an alcohol. "What have you done, idiot?"

"Shut up. Why the hell are you here?" The Japanese took an offense and tossed to Lavi a bag of groceries.

"You left it yesterday at work and I brought it to you." The redhead looked dumbfounded, not being able to recall leaving anything like that. But knowing life, Yuu wouldn't make this story up. He wouldn't even bother coming here for nothing.

"Ah, yeah… Thanks for that…" Ashamed of his earlier action towards the Japanese, he bowed gratefully. "And sorry…"

"Che. I guess lately you've been having only crappy days." Lavi forced a chuckle and came back to the living room, leaving his entrance door opened before Kanda. The one sighed in annoyance, taking an unspoken invitation and coming inside the apartment. Last time the Japanese was here was about 3 years ago, right before Junior High School graduation. That time the room was a total mess. Newspapers and books were placed everywhere. But know the floor was uncovered and all papers were sorted. Kanda came to the living room and found the redhead, sitting on the couch with hands covering his ruined face. This sight was abnormal. Abnormal and bad. Lavi was always silly-cheerful in front of the Japanese, so the one never had experienced the sadder side of his appearance. And now he's meeting sad Lavi for the first time. The black haired sat beside Lavi and for any other action than sitting.

"I'm horrible…" The redhead whispered silently. With every second the realization of his previous actions came slowly, yet painfully. Kanda was observing the depressed one, when his eye was caught by a nasty bruise on Lavi's neck. _'As if someone hit him…' _thought Kanda. Lavi uncovered his face and looked at the not so interesting carpet. "I've done unimaginable for me things while being drunk…"

"Like…?" Though it was rarely shown, sometime Yuu seemed to be interested in what people are saying. But not, that he cared!

"Like… Is it really ok to tell this to you?"

"Tell or not, it's your damn choice." Lavi looked at his friend, sad smile appearing slightly.

"I hurt Allen…" He said absentmindedly. The Japanese didn't know who was that 'mysterious' Allen, but he decided asking later. Now it was Lavi's turn to talk. "I've… I don't know why, but… Suddenly my body started to do things on its own. And those things…" He took a deep breath.

'_I have to kiss him…'_

"I… harassed him…" The Japanese looked shocked, though his expression stayed calm. "I remember kissing him and then… God, I hope I didn't do anything else. I don't know what happened next… After that…" Lavi grabbed his head, trying to recall something more, but the rest was lost in a thick fog of Lavi's mind. "Certainly, I'm horrible…" Kanda behaved like a mute, not saying anything. He just couldn't believe his own ears that his friend kissed a boy _'Assuming that Allen is a boy…' _he added to his thoughts. "I have no idea what to do next…"

"Find that… guy… and explain things to him. It's obvious!" Lavi looked in doubt at Yuu's words.

"I don't know where he went. He took all his things from here and moved."

"Things from here?"

"Well, yeah. He had been living here and teaching me French."

"French? That Allen was your tutor? And he lived here?"

"Yeah?" Lavi didn't understand why Yuu was so shocked. But then he realized. "Come to think of it, I haven't told you about it, have I?" The Japanese glared dangerously at redhead. That idiot let an unknown person live in his room carelessly and in the end he went away without a word. But leaving tormented Lavi alone.

"You should leave that bastard. He made you look like this." That was Kanda's opinion.

"I can't. I have to find him and apologize for hurting him."

"And you think he didn't hurt you too?" Kanda grabbed Lavi's neck, touching roughly the sore spot. The reaction was a hard hiss from redhead's mouth. "I don't think you could do it yourself. You're too good-for-nothing to hit yourself that hard." Lavi moved away from Kanda's hold. "And that was a precise hit. Exactly on your carotid artery. Easy way to make someone lose consciousness." Lavi lifted his hand and rubbed hurting neck.

"_Allen…"_

"_I'm so sorry, Lavi…"_

'_For what was he sorry?' _he suddenly winced at the stomach pain. After what Yuu said he started to have second thoughts. Supposing that Allen knocked him out was rather convincing. _'But that means my stomach…' _He looked down and lifted his shirt to take a look at his abdomen. What he saw was a big, purple-yellow spot. An awful sight made him wondering, if the damage could be caused by a fist. A very well-trained fist.

"Shit, Baka. It's disgusting." Yuu claimed. Lavi agreed and stopped staring at his stomach. Just feeling pain was painful enough, no need to look at a painful view. "You have to go to see a doctor!"

"I will… but later. Now I have to find Allen."

"You're really out of your mind, idiot? That guy tricked you!"

"He didn't. It's me who started this crap and now I have to fix it." _'There is a possibility that he was just defending himself. God, what have I done to him? I wish you could send me some memories…'_

"Che. Do whatever you want. But don't say I haven't warned you." Lavi only smiled and, still in pain, stood up.

"I won't. Now, I'm sorry, Yuu, but I have to kick you out."

"Che." The Japanese reluctantly stood up and went out of the apartment without saying a word. Lavi waved him good-bye and closed the door.

'_Now Allen. Where am I supposed to find you?'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Umm, Mr. Walker left the building about 3 hours ago." Lenalee Lee looked over the latest departure papers. Lavi was drumming his fingers on the desk, hoping for some useful information. "He gave us his new address, but it turned out to be a deception."

"It was faked? How do you know?" Lenalee looked around to see if someone is listening to them and waved to Lavi to come closer.

"This is an unofficial activity of our building. We confirm every address given to us. It's useful, when the person hasn't been registered on his new address yet." Lavi nodded in understand and relaxed himself. "This is confidential, so…"

"Don't worry, I won't breathe a word." Lavi promised. "Maybe do you know which direction he took?"

"Umm…" Lenalee looked at the entrance as if it was supposed to help her recall the white haired boy. "I'm not so sure… But when he went out a black car was waiting in front of building. Then I wasn't paying attention for a moment and later the car was gone, right after Mr. Walker's disappearance." _'Dammit, he can be everywhere!' _Black car as a hint wasn't good enough for Lavi. He grabbed his head and, surpassing his headache, started to think furiously. _'Three hours passed. He's likable to be out of the city. Or even out of the state. Depends if he went to the airport or is still riding a car.' _"Lavi, maybe you should ask Mr. Krory?"

"Mr. Krory?"

"Yes. He's the door's guardian. He's standing right there." The receptionist pointed at the tall man, whose appearance was familiar to a vampire, brought right from Transylvania. "Maybe he'd be able to help you?"

"I hope so. Anyway, thanks, Lenalee. You helped me a lot." The girl giggled at the redhead and wished him good luck in his search. As he was told, he walked to the skinny guy so-called Mr. Krory. "Um, excuse me, but I have a problem and you may be helpful to me so please listen to what I want to say, because it's really important!" The Transylvanian blinked a few times, completely not understanding what the young man said to him.

"I-I am terribly sorry, but I do not know what Sir is talking about. Would you mind repeating, please?" Lavi took a few calming breaths and started again.

"About three hours ago a white haired boy left the building. He was probably full handed with luggage. And there was a black car, waiting on the road. Could you please tell me, what happened to the boy or where did he go?" He tried to say it as slow as he could, but he knew he was in hurry. Every minute mattered. With every second Allen was further form him. The man rubbed his bony chin.

"Oh, Sir is probably talking about Mr. Allen Walker. Yes, his departure took a place 3 hours ago." Lavi's face lightened up, ready to take new clues. "He seemed to be in hurry, because he did not let me to help with his luggage. And, of course, there was a black car. Mercedes in my opinion. Mr. Walker put his luggage there and, with a mysterious red haired man behind the wheel, he drove away…" He raised his hand and pointed at street's left side. "…in that direction." Lavi glanced at the directed way and thought about Allen's possible destination. _'He probably wants to leave this state.'_

"Thank you very much, Mr. Kuro!" Lavi bowed his head and started to run, not hearing the last sentence from the guardian 'I-It is Krory...'. He ran forward. Not that he wanted to follow Allen. How was he supposed to chase after him, when he didn't know where the boy was going? _'I doubt he's going to answer for my call... But maybe...' _He stopped right beside the telephone box. _'He's going to fall for it?' _He took out his mobile phone and started to dial Allen's number.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

_'Come on, come on, come on. Answer, Allen, answer!'_

Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee- Kcht!

"Allen!?"

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**AG-RO-TAG's NOTE!!**

**I wonder who answered? I dunno, I haven't given it a thought. Maybe Allen? Maybe his Master? Or maybe 'Kcht!' is a sound of hanging up?**

**As I said, nobody knows :P**

**Allen thinks he hurt Lavi. Lavi thinks he hurt Allen. For those who didn't understand: Lavi remembers only to the moment of thought 'I have to kiss him' clearly. The rest is hidden on the back of his brain xP**

**And here we begin a great chase! Let's help Allen!**

**Enjoyed? xD**


	15. Go to the uncertain for me?

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 15: Go to the uncertain for me?~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello?" It was undoubtedly the same voice that accompanied him for the last 2 weeks. The same sound of kindness, innocence and, unexpectedly, worry.

"Allen!?" It was Allen's voice, for sure. He picked up a call from the telephone box. "Allen, shit, where the hell are you!?" Suddenly he felt rapid breathing from the receiver, which indicated the speaker became nervous. "Allen, I know it's you! Please, don't hang up and listen to me!" The receiver remained silent, yet it wasn't hung up. Lavi wished he could just teleport to the white and ask him directly, looking at him eyes to eyes. He wasn't sure if Allen wanted to talk to him after what he had done. He wanted to know what he had done. "Allen, I-"

"I can't talk to you right now." Allen interrupted. Being petrified by Lavi's voice, the boy looked nervously to make sure Master wasn't near him or couldn't hear his conversation. Good thing the redhead phoned him while he was in the toilet, otherwise it could cause some troubles. Especially with his Marian Cross. After all, he said he took care of Lavi, right? _'Yet I have answered an unknown call. Damn it, why it had to be Lavi!?' _An annoyed voice from his Master's side of door growled at Allen to hurry up and get out. "I can't tell you where I am. Don't look for me."

"What the hell!?" Lavi couldn't bare it and shouted at the speaker. "What do you mean by this!? Where are you!? What's going on!? Allen!"

"I'm alright. From now on forget about me, ok?" However reassuring it meant to sound, Allen's throat was too tight to be only half-relaxed. "I'm not coming back and you won't see me ever again. I really appreciate what you've been doing until now, but I had to leave."

"Leave!? Just like that!?"

"Yes. Just like that. Master found a new apartment, we had to hurry."

"No way are you going to give me such a crap, Allen."

"You don't have to believe me, if you don't want to."

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" _'Tell me, please… I'm begging you.' _"Why the hell you're like this!? What's the matter!?" Lavi didn't care, that people were looking at him, shouting some unreasonable questions to the receiver. He realized being angry won't solve the problem. He took few deep breaths and continued, calmer this time. "Allen, please. Tell me where you are." The younger held his cell phone tighter, fighting the urge to split out his current hideout, but he knew it was forbidden. He knew why Lavi wanted to know his place. "Please, tell. I'll come there. I need to see you."

"You can't." _'I need to see you too.'_ "We can't see each other anymore. Forget about me." _'I want to see you.'_ Allen shook, when he heard knocking to the door. His Master was losing his temper. It was taking too long. "I have to end now."

"Wait!" A pure desperation was shown from the redhead's side. "Don't-!"

"I'm so sorry for what I've done." _'For what, the heck!?'_

"Why? You haven't done anything, Allen!" The white grabbed his shirt, widening his eyes. _'Does he remember? Or is he just hiding his grudge?' _He swallowed hardly and tried to wet his dry mouth. He really wanted to see Lavi.

"Lavi, I-!" But the sentence wasn't ended. With a loud slam the toilet's door were opened and Allen could see furious face of his Cross, who couldn't keep waiting. "M-Master…"

"Who are you talking with? Tell right now." Even if it wasn't the right speaker, Lavi could hear clearly a threatening voice. But it wasn't the only thing heard. In the background, there was a sound of merry music, usually used in merry-go-rounds. And because this music was clearly heard, it meant Allen went to the other place, which was blocked by thick doors, but was really near the roundabout. Suddenly he recalled. His memories of him, being a child. Those restless hours, which he spent with his grandpa, only just to ride an artificial pony, which was attached to an elegant, Viennese merry-go-round. Only to listen to this music over and over again.

"You're… in Hewood…" Lavi told automatically, making Allen's heart stop for a second. "Shit, you're in Hewood!" With those words he hung up immediately and rushed to the nearest train station, to catch the fastest train to Hewood. _'Allen, don't you dare to move anywhere.'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Hewood. The bar 'Asian Branch'. **

**7.20. p.m.**

Finally, he found the place. His childhood town. Hewood. After his and Allen's talk about 3 hours passed, so Lavi wasn't sure if the white was still here. He hoped, from the bottom of his heart, he'll find Allen somewhere near. Or he'll be forced to make a decision: stop caring and leave Allen alone or chasing him till the end. _'Why do I care about him so much?'_ he quoted asked to him question. There was something uncertain within the redhead. His attachment to the white. It wasn't guilt after harassing. It was something odd. _'If I don't find him anywhere here, then I'll come back home…'_ In front of him he found a big bar, 'Asian Branch', where, as a child, he liked to come here and eat original, Chinese stuff. A few steps further, there was the memorable merry-go-round, which let Lavi know, where Allen might be hiding. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and went inside the bar. _'Huh, almost nothing has changed since I was here last time.'_ Interior was kept in Chinese style: colorful windows, lampions and Chinese signs everywhere. If it was more carefully preserved, than maybe 'Asian Branch' would get a status of the restaurant. Lavi sighed at nostalgia, which overcame him and drew near the desk, where a young girl with a pink hair was cleaning porcelain cubs and putting them on wooden shelves.

"You want something to eat, boy?" The girl finally spoke. _'B-boy? How old does she think I am!? Not to mention she's probably around 14…' _Lavi shook his head in a negative answer, making the pink haired girl's brow furrow. "Then get out of here."

"I would like to ask something, cutie." The redhead paid back for calling him 'boy'.

"I don't have an obligation to answer." _'Maybe asking her cutie wasn't a good idea…' _Lavi sighed, bringing out his wallet,

"And what if I buy something?" That way would be much better for asking questions. The girl's expression changed, as she listened to the order. "Noodles, please." She shouted the order to the bar window and prepared table for the annoying redhead. The one just observed her, as with an abnormally fast speed gave the bowl of noodles and soy sauce in front of his face. "Now, may I ask something?" The girl didn't speak, as if she indicated listening to whatever the annoying redhead wanted to say. "I'm looking for someone, who probably visited this place about 3 hours ago."

"Tch, there were about 50 people, that visited our bar about 3 hours ago." She answered rather quickly, not letting Lavi finish what he meant. He sighed in annoyance, trying to be not as angered as he'd like to be.

"I'm looking for someone particular." Deep breath. "Have you seen a guy, aged around 16-18, with a white hair and bandaged left arm? He also had a long scar on his eye and cheek. And he had a company, a tall redhead. Do you know anything about them?" The pink one glanced at the older for a few seconds. Her face was too easy to read for Lavi. _'She seems to know something…'_ "Well…?"

"I haven't seen someone like that."

"Are you sure?" _'You seem to lie.'_

"And who are you to ask about him?" Her voice was uncertain. Asking such a question assured Lavi that the girl was hiding something.

"I'm this person's friend, Lavi Bookman." Hiding the truth wouldn't be a good idea especially that the pink must know about Allen. The girl thought deeply, before excusing herself and leaving the redhead alone. Lavi sighed in defeat, knowing it is useless nagging her till the end. Probably Allen's Master told all bar's stuff to keep their mouth shut about their hideout. _'Someone from Tyki could come here. That's why they're shut.' _Lavi got up from his seat, leaving empty dishes on the table and tended to go out of the bar, when the familiar pink girl approached.

"You forgot your change, boy." _'Again this "boy"…' _

"I thought I paid you the exact price?" Lavi was stupefied when the girl handed him a green piece of paper, which was definitely not the change.

"No, you didn't. Have a nice night." With that sentence she pushed the redhead out of the door and closed them loudly. Still not getting what happened he looked at the piece of paper, so-called "change". The bar girl was acting strangely. For safety, Lavi decided to go far from the bar, just to see what the paper may contain. Hiding himself behind the tree, he opened the green sheet, noticing the handwritten message.

"Lavi,

Fou told me you are here, in Hewood. Sorry that she couldn't tell you immediately I'm here, but I hope you understand why that is. See me at midnight near merry-go-round."

'_So he is here, after all.' _Lavi read the message five times, before he could understand everything perfectly. He had to wait for 4 hours till the midnight. _'I think I should take a nap.' _He wasn't sure about the thought, because he could feel nervousness, filling his stomach up. But he didn't want to be half-dead from tiredness, so he approached the meeting place, merry-go-round, and lay on the wooden floor, right beside a bunch of colorful horses.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Hewood. Merry-go-round.**

**12.06 p.m.**

'_Damn, I'm the hell tired…' _As expected, Lavi didn't get so much of sleep. Right after he had fallen asleep, the guardian of the merry woke him up and ordered him to go away. The redhead wasn't the one to cause problems, so, obediently and reluctantly, he went. _'I wonder how I am supposed to meet Allen, when I can't be even near that place.' _Scenario wasn't convenient. He took out his cell and looked at clock. It was past midnight and there wasn't even a trace of white locks. To make matter worse, it started to rain an hour ago. _'An hour of sitting in bushes, getting wet and cold. Great.' _Nevertheless he was waiting. He didn't care about the time. And surely, time went and went. It wasn't midnight anymore. From coldness and exhaustion, all what Lavi wanted to do is close his eye and sleep, even in the sitting position. But he stayed, cautious of everything. Even a blown leaf couldn't run away from his concentration. _'I wonder how much longer I can keep up like that' _Time passed. It started to dawn (probably started, 'cause it's difficult to see the sky behind a thick mass of clouds). Lavi felt inside he caught a cold. An awful cold. And still, Allen was nowhere to find. _'It can't be… I got tricked? Or maybe I confused the time?' _Doubts started to cover Lavi's mind. That wasn't expected to happen. The cell phone was pulled out again. 4:43 a.m. _'Where did this time went!?' _Not feeling well, he decided to get up and go somewhere warm. But it wasn't as easy as he thought. After spending almost 5 hours, waiting for Allen to show up, his body became benumbed. With a really hearable groan he stood up, supporting himself with bushes. Waiting to gain control over his body fully, with another groan, he slowly went out, making noise with every leaf he touched. And sneeze he sneezed. The world before the redhead's eyes was in fog of dizziness.

ACHOO!

'_Eh… this is bad…Are those bushes going to end, anyway?' _Lavi was surprised by the size of bushy territory. Though he wasn't sure, whether it's the place so big or his mind isn't compatible with him anymore.

ACHOO! "EH!?" Something, among bushes, made Lavi trip over. It wasn't as hard as rock, or as soft as moss. It was hard-soft. And it moved. Lavi in a moment considered about tripping over an animal, like rabbit. But when he turned his head at the cause, his blood suddenly froze, eyes widened in pure shock. Rabbits aren't supposed to look like human being with white hair, bandaged hand and scar on its face. "A-A-A-ALLEN?" It was Allen, all flesh and blood. The boy was lying among bushes, sleeping peacefully, not affected by being accidentally kicked. Lavi was breathing nervously, thinking how the boy got here and why he was here. The redhead lifted himself lightly and looked around. _'From here there's a nice view at merry… Don't tell me he was waiting here whole the time!?' _Such a coincidence was almost ridiculous for Lavi. It seemed Allen had the same idea as the redhead and wanted to wait in the bushes till Lavi showed up. The older slapped himself mentally. Or even punched. It was sure Allen wouldn't come first and be alone in an open space. What if the man only called himself 'Lavi Bookman' and in reality he wasn't the one? "Sorry, Allen." He drew himself closer to the sleeping boy, touching his cheek, only to find out it was really cold. He looked at younger's chest. It was gently rising and falling in a steady tempo. _'Glad to know he's not dead, at least…' _"ACHOO!" This sneeze was very loud, not to mention Lavi's head was near Allen's ear. This couldn't be unnoticed, so, absent-mindedly, Allen quickly lifted his hand and caught something, what was supposed to be someone's throat. Receiving a surprised yelp, the younger turned around and forcefully took the person down, disabling him to make any movement. Lavi was totally speechless. And in pain. When Allen grabbed Lavi's throat, he also grabbed the sore place on his neck, which started to hurt again. He looked up and saw the white head wasn't himself. His look was hazy and full of caution. Also uncertain anger. _'S-Scary… Allen is scary…' _"H-H-Hello there... Allen?"

"Huh…" Allen tried to understand what the stranger said. Semi-consciousness was what controlled his body. _'Don't tell me… he's still asleep…' _Lavi recalled an article about half-asleep strong people. There was something about boosting up their powers, because their minds cannot turn down the intensity of their strength. Panicking, Lavi started to struggle, shaking Allen as hardly as he could. "Uh?" The younger had blinked a few times. His eyes were now awake as well as his whole being. "Lavi!?" The redhead sighed in relief when he saw Allen awaking. The white noticed his current position and backed of rapidly, releasing his ex-cohabitant from his grip.

*Cough* "G-Good morning, Allen." *Cough*

"O God, I'm so sorry! I thought it was someone else!" Lavi sat up, wondering who Allen may refer to that 'someone'. But he was happy, seeing Allen was okay. "You came here, after all."

"Yeah, I did."

"You know that you shouldn't be here." Lavi shrugged, not completely understanding why he wasn't supposed to see Allen. He decided he'd ask the question later.

"Probably I shouldn't. I don't care." Allen looked at the ground, shame covered by his white hair. _'I wanted to see you.'_

"Why weren't you waiting near the merry-go-round?" The white changed the topic immediately. Unexplained things can be explained later. Lavi thought for a moment and chuckled.

"And why weren't you?" Allen looked up. Why the redhead was chuckling?

"I-I've been waiting in the bushes for you to show up." Lavi laughed louder.

"So have I." Allen couldn't believe his ears. So he wasn't tricked by Lavi, or so-called 'Lavi'. The redhead was really near him, but they couldn't find each other. Thinking about the situation as ridiculous, Allen laughed as well as his companion. "Good thing I accidentally found you. I tripped over you."

"And here I thought why my back hurts." It was true. After fully-waking up he felt pain. "So… Lavi… Why did you want to see me so badly?" A short digression was ended, when Allen asked an uneasy question. Lavi swallowed thickly, thinking about the answer.

"B-Because…" _'It's embarrassing… Why am I blushing?' _"Allen, about what happened yesterday…" It was Allen's turn to swallow. He wanted to forget about yesterday, but the thought was annoyingly attached. "If... If that was the reason… The reason why you left, then… I'm horribly sorry." Lavi gave it a deep thought not so long time ago. While going to Hewood, he was thinking about possible reasons why Allen left. Thoughts were flying between Tyki and his actions. In the end, he took all the blame and hoped Allen would forgive him.

"But it wasn't because of you." The younger couldn't believe Lavi thought whole mess was because of him. The redhead seemed to have doubts, so Allen put his right hand on the older's shoulder, stroking it gently. "Instead of trying to stop you, I let you do everything. And hurt you…" Lavi looked up and saw the younger's face, all calmly saddened and afraid of being scolded.

"Y-You mean my neck and stomach, right?" Allen stayed silenced. "Don't care about it! I'm completely fine, see?" He turned around his head to prove there's nothing to worry about. Later, he regretted it, as the pain reminded him of its existence. "You were just defending yourself. "

"You hadn't done anything that could explain my actions." Allen seemed depressed, but Lavi wasn't happier. He smiled and, with a sad look, lifted Allen's head with his hand. The white was directly looking at the emerald eyes.

"Let's not worry about it anymore. I'm not angry at you and you're not angry at me. I jumped at you and you punched me. That makes us equal, right?" Hesitantly, the white nodded. Now that he knew Lavi wasn't offended the sinking feeling in his stomach loosened completely. Seeing Allen's face lightened, the redhead made again something unpredictable. Taking an advantage of not looking Allen, he brought the younger closer to him and embraced him softly. _'I have to hug him…' _His mind was calling. It needed a flesh contact with the white to fully understand everything was alright. They stayed like that in silence for moments which felt like ages. Lavi didn't want to let the one go. He was afraid he would go away again. Abandon him. "Allen… A-Aren't you feeling awkward?" The redhead didn't want also to be considered as a weirdo.

"I don't know if I should be…" It was a good thing Lavi wasn't looking at Allen's face, because then he would notice a deep shade of crimson on it. What would Lavi think? That he got so moved by the kind gesture, almost getting so excited? The feeling of wanting more came to the younger again. He wanted to stay like this, he wanted something else than this, he wanted to immediately stop this. The same mixed feelings when he was being kissed in the room 544. "I'm not. Not at all…" He returned the hug, making Lavi surprised. _'This is somewhat… very familiar…' _A sudden reminiscence from yesterday's afternoon came, but was quickly ignored, as the redhead appreciated the hug. Allen was warmer than when he found his in the bushes. The scarred cheek was gently touching his cold, bare neck and his breath was tickling him pleasantly. Felling the sensations all over him, the lack of sleep reminded about itself, pushing Lavi's eyelids down and rocking to sleep.

"I want to rest." His words were flowing on their own, expressing his current state. Allen put his damaged hand on Lavi's head, caressing soft red locks, making the sleepy even more sleepier. "I want to sleep."

"Then go to sleep." Allen was also exhausted. He didn't know when he fell asleep, but he remembered the apprehension, when about 1 o'clock Lavi wasn't on sight. Neither somewhere near the merry, nor anywhere. Dark thoughts were intruding, showing possible dark pictures of Lavi, being lost, damaged or… disgusted. Now that the older was in his arms, he felt peacefully.

"Don't go…" And the blackness overcame Lavi, not hearing any respond from Allen's side. His body gave up, after being affected by stress, agitation, and use for more than 24 hours. Allen's presence was everything what he wanted right here and right now.

"I won't leave you…" Knowing Lavi was asleep, he whispered in his ear. "I promise…"

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 15 END~~~~~~~~~~

**AG-RO-TAG's NOTE!**

**Sorry for making it too long -_-'' I promised to make it faster, yet I failed -_-'' Forgive me?**

**Allen and Lavi are together again ^^ How things will go from now on? Even I don't know O.o**

**My last chapter seems not to be popular. I guess you were right about not commenting it. It's because this chapter sucked really badly -_-**

**But I hope this one would be more suitable for you!**

**REVIEW as well as you did so ;P**

**Hope you liked it ^^**


	16. Too many questions and too much

**AG-RO-TAG's NOTE (before the story!? O.o that's rare…)**

**Firstly I have to apologize to all of you for a big, unexplained break in the story (as well as in "BSE" and "ABF")… Well, holiday, so I was in Croatia almost whole July! Unfortunately, I had no access to the Internet or to Open Office, or even to normal Word!!! It was my agony…**

**And now something else comes up! I'm having courses for my DRIVING LICENSE! This is going to be fun… Too bad our teacher is an old man near his 60's… and really boring….**

**Now I have to catch up with the story? **

**I also have to prepare for Laven week! I must start writing O.o**

**Hope you're not mad at me! And you haven't forgotten about me xP**

**Enjoy the story!**

**---**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 16: Too many questions and too much of this feeling~~~~~~~~~~

How much time has passed since he found himself in those small, but strong, arms, which he longed to find? Lavi couldn't answer as a sudden blackness covered his eyes and ears, preventing him from hearing the last words spoken by his old neighbour. _'I want to rest… I want to sleep… I don't want you to go…' _His mind was making illogical sentences and he wasn't sure if any of them were ever spoken out loud. _'Allen… you're still here? Or my wishful thinking was the reason of seeing you?' _His self was definitely out of ordinary. Even when he was sleeping. _'Will you be near me when I wake up?' _Feeling a new sensation of warmth and care, Lavi grabbed something soft, like a silk, and moved it closer to his face, realizing the 'thing' was giving a calming scent, perfect for his tired senses. No sooner did he get used to the dark and safe environment, when his tiredness was erased from his mind and an unexplained force made him slowly open eyes to the daylight. _'Where have all the bushes gone?' _Surroundings changed completely in Lavi's eyes. He wasn't anymore outside, but somewhere inside. Inside a wooden room with one window, one wardrobe, one table with one chair and one bed, which he found himself in it. The redhead felt a slight panic gathering inside his body, as he wasn't expecting a sudden change of location. Unknown location. _'Damn… I'd better go away. But where the hell is Allen?' _He recalled the silky 'thing' that he was holding and looked down. Eyes widened in shock and his blood stopped running for a second. The silky 'thing' was nothing else, but a storm of white locks, entangled between his long fingers. As expected, under white hair the face of Allen Walker, completely overwhelmed by sleep, could be seen. Lavi sighed in relief at the white boy's presence near him. _'Maybe I should wake him up?' _His free hand ran down Allen's hair, parting them enough to see a serene and gorgeous face of the teen. It was a hear-breaking decision, but in the end the older had decided to wake up his companion.

"Allen… Hey, Allen…" He lifted himself up and backed off a little. The consciousness of last awakening of Allen wasn't really pleasant. He definitely didn't will to experience a tight hold on his neck again. A gasp escaped from his lips, when the younger moved dangerously quickly. _'He probably wanted to attack me again…' _Nevertheless, Lavi tried again to wake him up. This time, Allen had fidgeted for a while before opening slowly his silver eyes. Lazily, the white moved his head and his gaze landed on a sitting figure right beside him. "Finally, you're awake, Sleeping Beauty." Lavi chuckled at an unusual cute side of half-asleep Allen. The other answered only with a groan and, reluctantly, sat up. "Good morning. Or I'd rather say…"

**3.46 p.m.**

"…Good afternoon?" Allen ended the redhead's sentence with a smirk. "You were sleeping quite well. I was surprised that even uncomfortable conditions weren't a problem for you."

"Uncomfortable conditions?" Lavi blinked in confusion.

"The difference between sleeping among bushes and in bed is quite specific." Allen stretched himself and, with a big yawn, his back landed back on the soft mattress. "And I was the only conscious, so…" Before he could reach the main point, Lavi understood what it was all about. _'He had to carry me…' _Allen smiled again as La vi made rather funny face of depression and slight embarrassment. "Hope you slept well."

"Yeah… Uh… Thanks." Lavi scratched his neck in a nervous gesture. "So, um… What now?" _'Because I don't have anything clever to ask...' _"Wasn't your Master surprised when you carried me on your back?" Allen's cheerful face disappeared with mentioning about his Master.

"He doesn't know you're here." The gray eyes showed a big concern and had a small glimpse of fear. "Actually… He doesn't know I'm here too…" Words seemed to be too confusing for Lavi. _'That doesn't make any sense!' _"He… never knew I had met you in the morning. Or I had gone anywhere."

"You mean you…" _'Ran away?'_

"Yes, I did…" _'Run away…' _The silence came over two men, leaving them in their thoughts. Lavi, completely surprised by the latest events, tried, as usually, analyze whole situation, give possible options and find out the truth. Allen was walking through pieces of his memories, trying to recall the last moments before his escape. He wasn't sure if his Master had any presumptions of his intention. Intention of seeing Lavi and disappearing. But what next? _'Have any idea? I don't think so.'_ While lying on bed, the younger stared at a wooden ceiling, willing to find some useful ideas. "Lavi…" Just when the older started to think about the morning, the thoughts were interrupted and attention was paid to the white head. "Have any idea?"

"No, not at all." _'Even if I don't really get what you mean…' _ "Firstly, where the heck are we?"

"We're in…"

**Hewood. "Edo" Inn.**

"WHERE!? You're kidding me!? It's freaking far away from the 'Asia Branch' bar!" Pure shock came over Lavi, but Allen didn't seem to care. It was his purpose, to go as far as possible. Far away from his Master. "Why are we here?" Allen shrugged and came back to his activity, staring at the ceiling. "Hey, Allen-"

"Sorry, Lavi, but right now I'm tired and I'd like to rest for a moment. If you don't mind, of course." It wasn't his intention to sound angry, but the younger couldn't help it. They entered the inn about an hour ago. Before he had been forced to carry taller (and heavier) redhead on his back for almost 7 hours. He wasn't tired. He was exhausted. Lavi shut his mouth and watched Allen for a moment before turning his head to the window. He had no idea what Allen had been going through. But, considering the distance from the 'Asia Branch', he knew the other must be hell tired. Apologizing for his 'annoying curiosity', Lavi did the same thing as his ex-cohabitant. Staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, Lavi."

"It's ok, but I'll feel better, if you start to be honest with me, Allen." He wasn't angry, but also wasn't pleased by the younger's strange behavior. The other sighed and turned his head, so he was facing Lavi directly. Feeling the gray gaze, he also turned his head from the ceiling, looking at Allen with his green eyes. "It's… painful. When I don't know what's gong on with you. It doesn't feel right…" Noticeably, those words were filled with hurt. They made the white feel uncomfortable. "I really want to know what's happening…"

"Lavi…" Allen bit his lower lip, unsure of his further actions. "I can't…"

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"I'm not that trustworthy?" Another needle of guilt was pinned in Allen. "I may give something away? Or I'm a nuisance? What's the reason, Allen?"

"The reason is I don't want you to get involved with it." The white finally snapped, making redhead silent. "I trust you and I know you wouldn't give anything away. And you're not a nuisance." Lavi huffed in annoyance, not convinced at all. "If I say anything, you may be involved in many troubles. And I may not be able to help."

"Of course…" The redhead's anger saddened Allen. _'You don't even know how much I want to tell you about everything…' _"I'll just act as if nothing is happening."

"And you'd better stay this way…"

"Oh dammit, Allen! You can't be fucking serious!" The older sat up in fury. He could stand strange act of his companion as long as it hadn't turned out annoying. "You think I'm going to leave everything like that? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I see the hell no way of doing it."

"Oh, can't you just leave it, Lavi? It's none of your business, so why do you care!?" _'Why do you care!?' _The same voice, anger and sadness rand in Lavi's mind. He heard this question before from Allen. _'Why… Am I really worth it? Why is it, Lavi?'_ Not so long time ago… And now the situation came to him again, but this time he had full control of his mind and body.

"Because you…" The situation became ridiculous. His imagination replaced angered face with the one in need of comfort. Eyes were watered with tears, which partly found their way out from eyelids to the pale cheeks, which later became flushed with passion. Passion, which ran through their veins with every touch of their lips and every taste they discovered in their mouths. "You…" The reminiscence had to move before the reality. But it left the same sensation as Lavi had that time. He wasn't completely controlling his actions.

"I…?" _'I feel like I'm going through the similar situation again…' _Allen left the feeling, thinking of it as ridiculous. There was a storm in his mind and he didn't care about strange flashbacks in his head. Lavi's face was mesmerized. "What is it, Lavi?" Allen's voice brought he redhead back from his trance. _'Why do I care about him?' _He asked himself again. _'Why… Do I even care?'_ "Lavi?"

"Does it even matter why?" He was still uncertain of his own feelings towards his ex-neighbour. Yet, he knew that there's still something inside him and it was waiting for a good moment to show up in front of Allen. "I don't care why I care. I care about you, Allen!" And he didn't care how Allen took his words. Or how they sounded. But they made the white head stay in shock. _'I care about you, Allen!' _This last sentence rang in his ears and didn't seem to stop. His stomach became awfully crushed and his eyes seemed like they were ready to fall. After a minute of silence, Lavi's temper turned down to calm. But his companion's face hadn't changed, so he had to reconsider his earlier words. _'I… I've just… confessed to him… Right?' _Lavi laughed at his own words, surprised by how smoothly they escaped from his mouth. The laughter became louder and louder, which wasn't a good sign for Allen. It became almost hysterical. _'Admit it, you idiot… You love him…' _He stopped his laughing gradually till he was completely silent. He found Allen was observing him whole the time, concern and confusion in his eyes. "Heh… I guess I'm bad at hiding my own secrets…" He wanted to clear the atmosphere. "Look, Allen, I'm sor-"

"You'd better not." Allen finally spoke. "I don't think any excuse would work now, Lavi…" _'Is he still angry at me?' _Lavi found it hard to read any emotions on Allen's face. Actually, it showed nothing. Nothing what Lavi expected, hoped or feared. _'If no excuse works, then I'll just give everything away.'_

"Well, then… I want you to listen to me…" He moved closer to Allen. His face was only few centimeters away from the white and he felt everything inside of him crush, melt and burn at the same time. He was prepared for the worst. He didn't know what was going to come. Allen was too unpredictable. "I want you to know... that I've never felt like now in my whole life. It's something very not familiar to me. And, I guess, not really familiar to you." At the felling of Lavi's breath, Allen shivered a little. The air was really tense and in a really odd way. The white wasn't too dense to realize his situation. _'This would come. If not now, then someday…' _He swallowed as he wasn't expecting this day to come that fast. The day he had to choose between his feelings and his mind. "And yet it was you, who made me act like that." The other slowly nodded and allowed the older to continue. "Can you look at me?" Through the speech Allen had his gaze stuck on his hand or bed, or floor. Anywhere, but Lavi's merciless emerald eyes. He forced his silver orbs to obey. "Do you remember our talk about purpose in our lives?" It didn't take much time to recall the definition of 'purpose in life', so the younger nodded and quoted Lavi's words from almost a month ago.

"The aim, the reason, the subject of your devotion. It makes you feel fulfilled, makes you want to live and you'll do everything to keep it safe, protect if it's needed." At those words both males smiled. They remembered their promise to find this purpose together.

"Glad to hear you hadn't forgotten." Lavi grinned wider, but only for a second, as his serious expression came back to his features. Only a faint smile could be seen. "I've been thinking about it for a while, but never found a proper answer. Until now." He put his palm on Allen's cheek, caressing and making it turn in a slight shade of pink. "You're my purpose, Allen. The one I've been longing to find." They were staring at each other, Lavi waiting for any response and Allen waiting for continuation. But no word was spoken as Lavi drew near enough to brush lightly lips with the white. "I love you, Allen…" And they connected in a gentle kiss. None of them started or forced it first. It seemed like both boys wanted at this moment feel other's touch. Their minds arranged the same idea at the same time and pushed them by using telepathy. But that complex thinking didn't matter to them. They carved for each other. But they weren't rushing. There wasn't anything passionate in the kiss. Or anything lustful. Only a soft touch, which probably meant for both more than a burning desire and instinct for skin on skin contact. Just a small kiss that made a minute change into years. Or even longer. Allen was the first to move back from the kiss, but not too far away, as he rested his forehead on Lavi's. The older had a good look on the handsome face, slightly colored by blood under pale cheeks. The eyelids were closed, showing long eyelashes matched with the white color of bangs, scattered everywhere. "Allen…" Gray orbs were showing themselves slowly, directly looking through the red locks and attractive features, till they found emerald eyes, shining with a new emotion towards the white boy. Love.

"Lavi…" His throat was too tight to say anything else. But he tried his best to put in this simple name as much of an emotion as he could. This word suddenly became so satisfying to say. "I…" _'__Make__your__decision__… __two__next__words__are__going__ to __change__you__…' _He couldn't decide. Now he was controlled by his feelings towards redhead. But also, deep inside, there was a fear. At this moment it was really, really buried deep inside of him. "I…I l-love you, too." In the end his heart won this challenge. And it was the answer that made Lavi even more surprised and pleased. Now the feeling was also flashing in silver eyes. Love. The joy, filling up Lavi from the inside, couldn't hold any second and made the redhead embrace into a loving hug and kiss the white head the second time in the day. It wasn't gentle or soft anymore. This one reflected more passion and need. They had to make a strong confirmation of each other's feelings. Lavi leaned himself on the bed, bringing Allen with him. The younger settled himself comfortable on top of the redhead, still paying attention on the roughness of kiss. No second longer did Lavi's tongue beg for more attention when Allen's lips parted and welcomed a new wave of pleasure. This wasn't the first time Lavi kissed him like that, but it was the first time Allen fully enjoyed it. So did Lavi. There wasn't any shadow of guilt or worry. The mind wasn't in fog and, this time, it saved every detail of this enchanting moment. Everything was just right. And satisfying. With a press on slim, pale neck, Lavi deepened their kiss, trying to explore further parts of Allen's mouth. The heat started to build up in both boys, creating more frequent moans and bigger desire. They had to stop at this moment. Reluctantly, Lavi parted from Allen's lips, blushing and panting for oxygen. The gray orbs were locked on the green gaze, looking for the reason why the kiss had to be ended. The only answer provided was a smile and a hand, which moved the white head on Lavi's chest. They stayed like this for long. Or maybe it was short, but the moment confused their minds? Breathing slowly, Allen found himself even more tired than before. The redhead's heartbeat gave him a tempo of his own breaths, softly lulling him to sleep.

_'We'll think tomorrow...' _Like Allen, Lavi steadied the frequency of his breathing and let his eyes be covered by comfortable darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**Ag-ro-tag's 2****nd**** note!!!**

**...**

**I must admit... that was the most difficult chapter I've ever written... Maybe it's because I don't have any experience with 'love' scenes? Or confessions... Gosh, now I'm reading it, it ****really**** is a confusing scene O.o I'll understand if you won't understand -__-**

**Now another thing: why weren't Lavi and Allen having sex right after saying "I love you"? Well... Maybe it's because Lavi didn't want to hurt Allen? (of course, "hurt") And Allen is still underage? xD No, really, I don't know why. It just didn't feel right to make them make love right after confessing... Plus, Allen is in troubles? No one knows what kind...**

**Hope you were looking forward to that scene in my story xD And that you're satisfied xD**


	17. Breaking after healing is less painful

**I hope you haven't forgotten this story ;P**

**A/N in the end! READ, RATE AND REVIEW! TRIPLE R! ;P**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 16: Breaking after healing is less painful~~~~~~~~~~

**Hewood "Edo" Inn**

**6.40 a.m.**

Why was he so surprised? Did he think that after such a wonderful reunion there will be nothing but rainbows, flowers, unicorns and sweetness? That after finding his purpose there would be nothing left to do, but consuming his happiness? The missed freedom and relief? Ha! It was too beautiful and he was totally prepared for this moment. The moment... Opening his eyes and trying to reach for the lost warmth of his beloved person, there was nothing. No touch to reach with his hands. No sound to reach with his ears. No body to reach with his eyes. He was completely alone.

Lavi sat on his bed and run his fingers through his flaming locks, sighing heavily at the loss of another person, who was supposed to lay next to him. _'Why am I so surprised?' _It wasn't like he knew everything about his newly-found 'purpose'. Just because he was his neighbour, tutor, roommate, friend and... well... didn't mean that it was a right thing. Devoting himself to a stranger?

_'Allen is not a stranger...'_

And yet he wasn't a close person. He didn't feel like he was.

_'I love you...'_

_'I love you, too'_

So why was he alone? Lavi took a deep breath and started scanning his room for any traces left. Maybe notes, signs, info. Nothing. The simplicity of the room hadn't changed. And he was a good enough observer to notice changes. He gave up meaningless looking for a miracle and decided to leave the apartment. He closed the door, walked through the corridor and went to the reception desk. A young, pretty-looking female with long, brown hair blinked as Lavi approached her desk. Lavi could feel her eyes piercing through his clothes, as he noticed a tiny hint of lust behind her pink orbs. _Is pink a normal eye color? _He questioned himself, but smiled, anyway. There was no time to think, he had to be quick.

"Good morning, Sir! My name is Chomesuke and if there is something you want to ask please don't hesitate calling me~!" The receptionist breathlessly greeted the redhead with a high-pitched voice.

"Morning, cute." He replied with the same over-sweetened eagerness, plastering big grin. "I actually do have something I want to ask. Have you seen a boy, medium height, bandaged hand, white hair and scar on his face?"

"Hmm..." Chomesuke made a serious expression, trying to recall the person with the exact description. "... I'm sorry, Sir, but I don't remember anyone passing this way with such a look." Lavi made a dumbfounded expression. So what, did Allen just perished into the air? He couldn't leave the building just like that. "But I may ask my colleague, who had a night shift. Which would mean the person you, sir, are talking about, left the Inn before 6 a.m."

"I'd really appreciate that." Lavi forced another smile and watched the young girl disappearing behind the door. _After so much trouble with him – taking care of him, listening to him and even following him – why is he doing this to me? What made him go? I don't think he went to buy breakfast or anything like that... _A little musing later, Chomesuke came back with a small note and a cheerful smile.

"I called my colleague and she said that there was a person like that. He left around 4.50 a.m." She passed a pink sheet of paper to Lavi. "Mr Walker also left a note to you, Sir. He asked to pass this info to you." _Why does this paper smell like roses? Yuck... _He thanked the receptionist and left the 'Edo' Inn. It was already past the sunrise and the day seemed to start beautifully. If it was about the weather, of course. Lavi was still troubled by the disappearance of Allen. He brought the note closer to his eyes and started to read.

'Lavi,

I'm happy to be your purpose and I really meant what I said yesterday. But I need to tell you something.

I also have a purpose.

There are still some matters that I need to take care of. And this is something that can't be done with someone else. I may sound really dark and depressing here, but I'm not like that. Maybe I'm just a little bit worried, you shouldn't have gone after me. That's why I'm begging you.

Stop following me. Just wait.

Allen.'

"Just wait?" Lavi had to read the last sentence out loud, because his brain didn't understand the single word. "You expect me to WAIT!" This time he was too loud for his liking, because most of people, walking out and into the Inn, were looking at him like he was some sort of a madman. It wasn't like he cared, but surely gazes made him feel uncomfortable. _There's no way I'm going to wait, Allen Walker. I went through this once, I may also go through this again! _With a determined thought he grabbed his cellphone and dialed the number of his friend, Kanda Yuu. Calling Allen would be meaningless.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee-Kcht!

"What the fuck, idiot Rabbit!" The cell answered the signal with a Kanda's threatening growl.

"Yuu, I need you to do me a favor." _As much as I would love to tease the just-woken-up Yuu, I really don't have any time for this._

"Stop freaking calling me Yuu! And what the hell do you want so early in the morning?"

"I need you to pick me up at the train station. I'll be at the Train Station somewhere around an hour." Since Allen took him away from the 'Asian Branch' bar, fortunately nearer the city, Lavi had less time to reach his home.

"What the, does it have anything to do with that pansy moyashi kid of yours?"

"Don't call him like that, Yuu! And what is this moyashi anyway?"

"Che, whatever. You better hurry your ass up, I won't be waiting for you for the eternity."

"Don't worry, I'll get there as soon a-GUH!" Lavi wasn't able to finish his sentence, because all of the sudden he felt a hand grabbing his head in a painful grip. With a fast movement his face was pinned to the wall of the nearest building. _Shit! What the hell! _The cellphone was dropped and through his hazy mind he could hear Kanda's faint calling for him. It wasn't like he expected something or someone to interrupt his conversation. Anger overflowed through Lavi's body. He didn't have enough time to play idiotic crime games with strangers. Looking from the corner of his emerald eyes, he saw a guy with long, red hair, dressed in black coat and smelling like a truck of just-lit cigarettes. The unexpected man was too familiar for Lavi's liking. He was similar to the guy from the day, when Allen's apartament burnt down. _Holy crap, it's Allen's Master! _Nobody else, but Marian Cross.

"My stupid apprentice told me he got rid of you. That little, moronic liar." The grip tightened and Lavi could feel the passage for air to lungs being slightly blocked. He firstly tried to set himself free by rapid moving and occasional kicks. No use, that guy had a monstrous strength. "Where is he?"

"L-Let me go." _Allen ran away from his master. This is not going to be good... _Again, Lavi tried to break free, but instead of a sweet freedom, his position was changed from pinned to the wall to lifted in the air. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You're not convincing enough." Cross chuckled darkly, throwing Lavi like a lifeless bag of meat on the ground. The younger redhead coughed painfully after the impact and froze, when he heard an alarming sound of a gun being unarmed.

CLINK!

"Dude, just calm down..." Through the pain Lavi chocked out, knowing that he got himself into really fucking problem. Playing dumb wasn't helping, he had to take another way. "I don't have a hell idea where Allen is."

"So my beauty isn't helping with recovering your memory?" By 'beauty' Cross meant his big, silver revolver, held in his left hand. From the distance Lavi could notice engraved word on metal surface and some crosses. "This is 'Judgment'. And she dislikes really arrogant and annoying brats, such as yourself."

"Poor girl, she must be wielded by the same type she hates." Despite the obviously dangerous situation, sarcasm escaped from Lavi's mouth without any regrets. "Could you please stop pointing that thing at me? I'm also searching for Allen and you're wasting my time."

"Right, the time. I'd better hurry up and get rid of you." With that statement, Cross used the rifling of 'Judgment' and painfully hit Lavi's right eye. The boy screamed, as he could feel billions of nerves getting damaged and his emerald eye being torn apart. That wasn't something he expected. Nobody probably would expect losing his eye. "Stop screaming like a pansy and move your ass with me." Clutching to his eye, he lifted himself and obediently followed Marian Cross. Before, he grabbed his cellphone and looked at the screen. Kanda hang up a little while ago. He had to call him.

Bee-Kcht! _Oh, he picked it up faster than usually. My fucking eye..._

"Kuusou Usagi! What the hell happened!" _He's speaking in Japanese. I really made him mad._

"S-Sorry, Yuu, I guess I got myself into something nasty... He he he..." He chuckled.

"The fuck are you laughing! Where are you?" He shouted.

"Still at the same place where I was about 15 minutes ago..." He calmed down.

"Tell me where, you frea-" He got interrupted.

"Oh, and about that. You don't have to pick me up. I got myself... a lift." He excused.

"A freaking lift? What the hell are you doing?" He asked.

"Rescuing~!" He hang up. Of course, Kanda wasn't pleased with the reply he received. Lavi knew it for sure. But he had no time to think about his friends thoughts. Allen was a priority. Both males reached the black Mercedes and at instant Lavi got into the car, waiting for the other to start the engine and go to nowhere. "Shit! If hurting my eye satisfied you enough, would you mind giving me some aid?"

"Somewhere under your seat, pansy." There was a car first aid kid. _Oh, joy..._He took out gauze pads and bandages. No painkillers. _Dammit._"So, why the hell are you chasing this idiot apprentice?"

"Personal reasons. Why the hell you crushed my eye?" Lavi growled, slowly bandaging the gauze and praying to inner natural organism forces for faster regeneration. _I hope I'll be able to use this eye later..._

"Personal reasons." _Oh, here comes a productive dialog... _"This stupid good-for-nothing boy gives me nothing but trouble. I swear, if I catch him, I'll rip off his legs, arms and head, send his corpse overseas and give it to a group of starving Chihuahuas..." _It sound quite familiar... _Lavi though for a second, recalling the moments he talked with Allen about his Master.

_'My master is a tyrant without a heart, brain and looks. If he makes me pay another debts from alcohol store, I'll make sure to buy a bathtub of vodka and drown him there...'_

Shiver ran through his spine at the flashback. The familiar dark aura, surronding the frame of Allen. The venomous voice, used to describe his evil intentions towards Marian Cross. _They're definitely pals..._

"Hey you, red idiot." Lavi jumped, rawly pulled out of his thoughts. "Were there any suspiciously looking guys walking around or asking about the idiot?"

"Huh? Why do you-"

"Answer me, or you'll lose another eyeball."

"U-Uh... I guess not. Though..."

_'Tell Allen I'm sending him my regards.'_

"...there was once a Portuguese guy with a small girl. But Allen knew him already, so..."

"Dammit!" Marian punched car's steering wheel and ran his hand through his old face. "I hope they don't know anything about the Innocence..."

"...About what?"

"I see apprentice didn't tell you anything. Well, there's no point in hiding it anymore, you're already bothering us too much." Lavi blinked a few times. The word was actually very familiar. Somewhere in the back of his mind it shined, it pulsated. _Where the hell it came from? What is it?_

"What is this Innocence?"

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**AG-RO-TAG'S NOTE!**

**Hiya, guys! I'm so happy to be with you again! Guess what. FINAL EXAMS ARE FINISHED! I'm no longer bothered by stupid studying things that I'll never use (or maybe? No one knows...)**

**Where are cookies? I got quite hungry...**

**And I got my inspiration back! I'll make sure to upload in June at least 3 chapters of "Neighbour". If I won't do that, then damn me! I'll deserve a damnation!**

**I hope nothing like this will happen ^^''**

**How are you guys doing? I hope you haven't forgotten this story so far ;P**

**And I hope you enjoyed it :D I'm coming back to the main plot!**

**:D :D :D**


	18. Give the Innocence back to blame

**PEOPLE! I MADE A POLL IN MY PROFILE! GO THERE AND VOTE!**

**READ, RATE and REVIEW! Note is at the end!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 18: Give the innocence back to blame~~~~~~~~~~

_Innocence..._

Beep-eep. 'Next stop: Ogland International Airport. Repeat – Ogland International Airport'

That was his stop. After making his way through the crowd, and leaving the metro station, he stood in front of an enormous, modern building. Shallow breaths were escaping from his lips, caused by a great hurry. _Dammit, I hope I'm not late... _Allen sucked the air deeply and ran to the entrance of the Airport. The interior seemed even more massive than the building outdoors. He gaped at the sight, allowing himself to study such a modern design. Easy and practical. _Duh, no time be daydreaming. I need to get to the C trial. _And so, completely clueless about where to go, he moved forward. The place was full of people, yet he was searching for someone, peeking among group of strangers or single persons. After a while he found a big board with words 'TRIAL: D". _God, don't tell me I've missed it... _A slight panic showed up inside his brain, so he decided to head back. If there was something Allen wasn't good with, it was the sense of orientation in strange places (especially monstrous-sized buildings). He looked nervously at the nearest clock. 7.30 a.m. _Shit, I don't have much of time... The plane is going to take off soon and I can't find those stupid N-!_

"Allen, bem-vindo! Meu caro amigo é aqui!" Allen stopped his tracks automatically, right after hearing the oh-so-familiar language. Spotting the source, there was a tall, tanned Portuguese, dressed in an elegant suit with a black hat. Of course, it was Tyki Mikk. "I was worrying you wouldn't be here on time, Allen. The clearance was near the end and it would be a pity to throw away good tickets." His silver eyes changed their shade of gray to cold steel, as the picture of the hated man couldn't make his day. "I see that you finally made the right decision."

"I pretty much doubt it." The white haired boy hissed at the companion, glaring dangerously. "I'm not doing this because I want to, Tyki."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. You're here, because you don't want your friends to be hurt, tortured, killed, etc." Tyki claimed with a mocking tone, making the shorter one even angrier. "This golden heart is useless nowadays. But I don't give a damn about that. Something else is of my interest." Allen scowled deeply. "You have it with you?" The Portuguese smirked, a greedy flash sparkling in his golden eyes.

"I wouldn't be here, if I didn't. Isn't that obvious?" Allen made the same smirk, though it wasn't greedy but venomous and full of hate.

"Bom menino. Show me."

"Não. It's hidden."

"Oh, really? Where?"

"You don't have to know. I have my places." Allen ended the sentence in a smug manner, passing by the confused male and reaching the check-in desk. Tyki though for a while the last sentence, only to shiver from creepy and disgusting images of possible hideouts in Allen's... body... "Are you going to stand there or can we get over it faster?"

"Don't be too cocky, bean sprout." Tyki growled, following up with Allen and giving two tickets to the controller. "I think you still haven't realized that you completely belong to us, starting from..." The controller checked the two tickets to Portugal and let both males enter the clearance. "...now." Tyki ended his statement with a big squeeze of Allen's arm, made in a fake friendly gesture. "I'm looking forward to our cooperation. Our family got quite fed up with all chasing and hunting." _You could at least leave us alone... _Allen added in his mind, though he knew any argument would be useless. Both males got their luggage checked and scanned for any metal things. There wasn't anything wrong, so they passed through the last check up and were directed to the airplane. For a moment Allen was outside and he stopped walking, taking the last glance behind, looking at the airport. Or maybe looking at his old house, all friends he made in Skyscraper '13', his annoying Master and... He clenched his fists, trying to force himself not to run like a madman from the Portuguese guy and scream for help. After all, joining the Noah family was his decision. "Hey, stop daydreaming and come aboard. I've bought places in the first class, so we would have an enjoyable travel."

"I'm going." The white growled, memorizing for the last time the airport and entering the plane to Portugal. A sweet smiling stewardess led Tyki and Allen to their seats in the first class, asking if they needed anything to eat or drink. Tyki ordered a champagne, while the other didn't want anything.

"Oi, amigo, at least drink with me. Today's day is worth a celebration!" The tanned man laughed cheerfully, while taking the bottle from the girl and pouring golden liquid to his glass. "You're going to start a completely new life." The glass was emptied immediately, making Allen's face twist in disgust. "Now we have to survive almost 5 hours of flight. I hope they'll play a movie or something." Tyki looked stupidly at the seat in front of him, noticing a headphones and putting them on his ears. Allen shrugged, reaching for his bag and taking out a book. He dusted it off with his healthy hand and looked carefully at the cover. "The History of Art". A small smile appeared on the pale face, reminding the moment he received the book from his former neighbour. In fact, after the fire in room 543, that was the only thing that wasn't burnt down. However, he never told the redhead about it, maybe he assumed it also disappeared in the ashes. Fingers flipped through the pages.

Ancient Times.

Middle Ages.

Renissance.

Baroque... Yeah, he was here. Allen stared at the new chapter of the book and sighed heavily before reading.

_Lavi... I hope you're not chasing me this time..._

_But I'm pretty sure you do._

**Middle of nowhere. 7.56. a.m.**

**Black Mercedes.**

"...Does that explain everything to you?" Marian Cross had just ended a thorough explanation about the mysterious Innocence. Lavi hummed for a moment, trying to clear up all the info and put every fact in the right order.

"Actually, nothing makes sense. 'The final matter'? 'Stone of truth'? WEAPON? Not to mention all the things about massive destruction and bunch of people that are ready to kill everyone for the Innocence." Lavi sighed, gently rubbing his sore eye. "As a matter of fact I actually remembered this so-called Innocence. I guess it was about 5 months ago. The most famous diamond 'Innocence', which was exposed in Portugal International Museum. This was probably the biggest diamond in the world and it was said that it was created near the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. Though I highly doubt it."

"Yea think so?" The older redhead grumbled, one hand on the steering wheel, while the second tried to lit the cigarette in his mouth. The gray smoke covered all the car space, making Lavi cough. "Have you ever seen this 'Innocence'?'" Lavi mused for a moment.

"No. I heard there wasn't even a single photo taken of it."

"That's a big fat lie." Marian grinned, pleased by the confused and shocked face Lavi had given. "If you're smart enough to fool all the security and cameras, nothing is impossible. Check it for yourself." With one hand, he reached for his inner pocket in black coat and showed a picture to the younger redhead. Lavi's eyes almost popped out of their socks. It was an enormous diamond, aquamarine shade, height of an average human or even bigger. The stone was illuminated from all possible sides, creating a soft glow and making it bigger optically. As if it wasn't a real thing. "Shut your stupid gawking mouth, or you're going to drool all over my upholstery. This stuff wasn't cheap." Lavi swallowed any unwanted spit and scanned every inch of the photo. It was the International Museum alright, the photo also didn't seem to be fake.

"Wow... Impressive." Lavi finally spoke, still not leaving his eye off the picture. "How did you took it?"

"Not me, stupid apprentice did." Marian answered, puffing out another cloud of nicotine toxin.

"What! Allen did? But..." Lavi looked at the older male. "Why did he photographed it?"

"Because it's not an ordinary diamond, you idiotic bunny." _Why the hell he and Kanda call me RABBIT? This is a mystery that I won't solve it forever... _

"Let me guess. It has something to do with that stone of truth and destruction?"

"You're still an idiot. Yes, that's the point. The biggest riddle about this stone is its origin. Nobody knows how that big diamond could be unnoticed for over 2000 years. And, as you said, the date of its creation was near the date of Christ's birth. That's why it s believed that this is the Stone of truth, created by the God himself. It costs quadrillions or even more, because everybody wants to own a piece of God. But, there's also a story about it. If the stone will be handed to the wrong hands, the true wrath of the Almighty will fall upon all our race and it'll be used as a weapon. This stone may be called a diamond, but it isn't. With a bigger force it's easily breakable and pieces may be used in different ways, especially weapon making. Bastards, use such a divine matter for their own selfish reasons..." He stopped for a moment and glanced at his companion. "...Hey, what the hell are you staring at?"

"I'm doing everything not to jump out of the car and run for my life or open the window and scream for help." Lavi's expression was between freaked out and disbelieving. "What the heck are you, a God fanatic?"

"Are you mocking with me, asshole?" Lavi gulped at the threatening tone. _Fuck, I'm in the car with a maniac... _"Have you looked thoroughly at the centre of the Innocence?"

"Yeah, it's slightly darker."

"This it the Heart. Nobody knows what it is made off, but there are some suspicions that it contains a high level of toxic gas, that could kill everyone instantly in 30 km radius and go even further. Or..." He inhaled deeply in the cigarette and threw the remains through the window. "There's a chemical substance, similar to all contained in bombs or so. In other words – if someone will reach the Heart, then that's the end." Lavi nodded in understanding and tried to look as calm as he could.

_WHAT THE FUCK! What the hell is he talking about! We're all gonna die! Because of some stupid imitation of a diamond? Massive destruction, my ass! Oh, I'm an idiot that I willingly went inside this mess... If I had just listened to Allen and hadn't sniffed around this case, then I would be peacefully sitting in my solitude with a book in one hand, a glass of wine in the other... This is too bizarre for me. Am I dreaming? Oh, please, tell me I'm dreaming! _Oh yeah, he really tried to look calm...

"Even if you make such a fuss about this 'Innocence', what has Allen got to do with it?" Lavi asked, curious about the connection of Allen with the whole mess. Marian suddenly grinned broadly.

"To your information, idiot, stupid apprentice is a lucky owner of a tiny fragment of the Innocence."

"WHAT! ALLE-!" Before Lavi could end his question of a shock, Cross turned his car roughly to the left, driving directly to the Ogland International Airport. Lavi wasn't prepared to hold still, so he bumped his head into the window, luckily covering his damaged eye. "Hey! Watch how you're driving! Do you want to kill me?"

"I would probably do a big favor to the world, if I did." The driver clearly enjoyed the pained expression of younger redhead. The car was finally in front of a great building, so it stopped. "Get your ass up. This idiot is going to take off in 15 minutes. We need to get inside of the plane."

"W-W-Wait, hold on a minute! What plane?" The younger started his protest, but failed as Cross grabbed his hand and dragged him like a bag of potatoes to the Trial C.

Beeeeeep! 'Announcement: The take-off of the plane from Ogland, America to Porto, Portugal, is going to be delayed for 20 minutes. All passengers should be heading to the clearance, which will be closed in 10 minutes. Thank you.' Beeeeep!

"That plane." Marian answered right after the announcement and hurried to booking offices. "Fuck! Why the hell queues are so fucking big?" Lavi looked at all people, standing and waiting for their turn to buy tickets. If they wanted to catch Allen's plane, they had to act quick. The redhead scanned any possible opening with his healthy emerald eye, when all of a sudden he recognized one face, standing behind a man, who was right near the office.

"Lenalee?" He questioned loudly, checking if his eye wasn't fooling him. The response was immediate, as the Chinese girl looked over and noticed the flame haired 20-year old. "Lenalee! Thank God you're here!" He ran to her, dragging his disliked companion.

"Lavi! What a surprise!" She chirped cheerfully, greeting the resident of the Skyscraper '13'.

"Yeah, I can't believe it myself. Wait... What are you doing here?"

"I took a few days off my work as a receptionist and decided to go somewhere on holiday." The man in front of her left the desk with his ticket and now it was her turn to buy. "What about you, Lavi?"

"Ah..." Just when he was ready to answer, he recalled the goal. "Listen, Lenalee, could you buy us two tickets?" The receptionist blinked a few times, shocked by the request. "No, it's not like that, we will give you the money, but we don't have time to wait in the queue."

"Oh. I think it's alright." She nodded. "Where to?"

"Porto in Portugal."

"Really? That's where I'm also going!" Lavi's face dropped a little. He was already doomed by following Allen in a strange God-Stone-Apocalypse mission and he didn't like the idea of dragging the innocent girl with him. But he had no choice. He wanted to reply to Lenalee, when the big hand of Allen's master dragged him away from the girl, throwing him accidentally on the floor. When he shook his head to correct his vision, he saw Marian Cross, covered in a small cloud of blinking stars and roses and holding dearly the Chinese girl.

"My dear. It will be an honor to be accompanied by such a beautiful angel like yourself. Please, take care of me." He took a petite hand and kissed it, acting like the Prince Charming. Lenalee blushed softly, while Lavi's jaw dropped at the unusual behavior. _Right... Allen told me he was a womanizer... _"Hey, you idiot rabbit! Stop freaking staring like a retard and take my lady's luggage or I'll have to deal with me." The sigh of hopelessness could be heard, as he obediently took Lenalee's bags and followed both people to the clearance.

**The Plane, Flight 35**

Beeeeeep! 'Announcement: The take-off of the plane from Ogland, America to Porto, Portugal, is going to be delayed for 20 minutes. All passengers should be heading to the clearance, which will be closed in 10 minutes. Thank you.' Beeeeep!

A voice appeared on the speakers above all passengers' heads. Everyone made a perfect groan at the same time, they were already sitting there for good 30 minutes. In the first class, the Portuguese man was looking through the window in boredom, hoping to get to his mother-country as fast as possible.

"Man, this is such an inconvenience... They're going to hold us here till we die..." Tyki whined, not expecting any response from his annoyed 'friend'. Putting his hand in the pocket, he took out his mobile phone and picked a number. He ducked as low as he could, he didn't want to get caught by any of flight attendants.

Beeeeep. Beeeeep. Beee-Ktch! "Olá?"

"Olá, Rhode. Tyki no telefone."

"Oh, it's you. Are you on the plane?"

"Yes, but there's a small delay. We'll take off soon."

"Good. Have you brought whitey with you?"

"Certamente."

"Excelente. I'll tell Lulubell to pick you and whitey up at the airport. Take care and hurry up. Papa is really impatient."

"Yeah. Veja você." Tyki hang up and came back to his earlier activity. Looking for nothing...

"Hello, and welcome to Flight 35 from Ogland to Porto." His gaze turned as a young stewardess appeared with two other girls in the centre of the plane. "Before taking off, we'd like to tell you now about some important safety features of this aircraft. There are 5 exits aboard this plane: 2 at the front, 2 over the wings, and one out the plane's rear end. " Tyki moaned in terror, those safe-shows were getting on his nerve too much, no matter how pretty all girls were.

"This is going to be a loooo- Huh?" Just when he was about to complain some more, he noticed something strange outside of the window. On the ground, near the stairs, he spotted a quite familiar shade of red. And not only one, but two! The other was accompanied by a black blur and it was far longer than the first one.

"...in the event of a loss of cabin pressure bas with masks will drop down over your head. You stick it over your nose and mouth like the flight attendant is showing you. Next, you..." As the stewardess was continuing her speech, Tyki shifted a little bit closer to the window, so he could confirm his suspicions. Two redheads, with a young lady, were giving their tickets to the other flight attendant and were let in to the 2nd class entrance.

"Is that... Bean sprout's friend from the restaurant?" Both males were walking further and further from his golden gaze. "And he's with... CROSS?" Tyki moved back, completely surprised.

"...Thank you for your attention. We hope you'll have a safe and entertaining flight." The girl bowed politely and walked inside the pilot's cabin. "All passengers abroad. We're ready to take off."

"So Ruivo and Mestre are chasing us?" Tyki looked at Allen, who surprisingly fell asleep with a book in his hands a really long time ago. Tyki chuckled, as he gently took away "The History of Art" from the sleeping boy and looked through the pages. "Things are getting more and more interesting..."

~~~~~~~~~~END OF CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**AG-RO-TAG's NOTE!**

**...**

**...**

**Yeah, I know... I'm bad... Even though I promised to update in June, I got quite caught up by different things. Changing school, especially. And then a hospital, without my laptop -_-'' But I'm fine! I still haven't forgotten about 'Neighbour'. Actually, the plot is thickening and it's even harder for me to get out of this mess xDDD Laven must wait, Lavi has to catch up with Allen!**

**But poor Lavi, Cross doesn't care about him and do what he please. It might be strange that I added Lenalee here, but Lavi was quite absent the past days, when he was in Hewood, and every worker has a right to take a break? It was just a coincidence xD I'll try to clarify something later!**

**PEOPLE! I MADE A POLL IN MY PROFILE! GO THERE AND VOTE!**

**Now that 'Neighbour' was 'fed', I think I should take care of Above Best Friend. I quite left it to rot -_-''**

**Oh! And Portuguese phrases! As always, I used Google for it!**

**Allen, bem-vindo! Meu caro amigo é aqui! - Allen, welcome! My dear friend is here!**

**Bom menino - Good boy**

**Não - No**

**Tyki no telefone - Tyki on the phone**

**Certamente - Certainly**

**Exceltente - Excelent**

**Veja você - See you**

**Ruivo and Mestre - Redhead and Master**

**NAAAH! To many things!**

**Hope you like the chappy ^^**


	19. The closer you are, the further you sink

**SOME INTERESTING AFTER 1,5 YEAR FACTS UNDER THE STORY!**

**AND, AS ALWAYS, REVIEW!**

**I REALLY WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU FEEL AFTER SUCH A BIG BREAK!**

~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 19: The closer you are, the further you sink~~~~~~~~~~

"Good day, this is your Capitan speaking. We are now 5000 meters above the ground. The flight to our destination, Porto, Portugal, will take more or less 7 hours. During the flight, you're free to move aroud the plane freely. Please, make sure all your actions are safe and for any doubts inform your nearest flight attendand. Thank you for your attention and I'm wishing you an enjoyable flight."

**The Plane, Flight 35**

**9 a.m.**

"So, when that guy drew out his gun and pointed at me, I looked for anything useful around me. There was nothing, but a dead rat's corpse. I thought it was better than nothing and threw this poor little creature at him, aiming directly at his big, watery mouth. He almost swallowed..." _'Jesus Christ, I can't take it anymore!' _Lavi covered his ears, trying desperately to block the nonsense Marian Cross was giving to Lenalee. The Asian girl was really good at faking interest, though from time to time she looked elsewhere, silently begging Heavens to stop this torment. All passengers in the 2nd class groaned at the voice from the speakers, trying to figure out how to pass this merciless time. Some of them went to sleep, some of them put on headphones and let the music blast their eardrums, and others started a small conversation with their neighbours. Only a few decided to read a book. _'And to think why our society is starting to be full of illiterates' _the boy furrowed at the thought. _'Come to think of it, because of that bastard Cross I don't have anything to do, either...' _He pressed the yellow button with a flight attendant minature. After a moment a busty, blond-haired woman approached Lavi's seat.

"My name is Anette. May I help you?" The woman bend a little, closing the space between her impressive neckline and Lavi's face. From the distance a yelp of excitement was heard. _'Stupid perverted Cross...'_

"Well yeah, I'm pretty bored."

"So, what kind of entertainment do you seek?" The yelp from not-so-far was even louder. Marian completely forgot about attempt to impress Lenalee and concentrated on the contents of female attendant's shirt.

"Do you have anything to read?" The redhead continued as his eye twitched. Animal-like behaviour of his seat-neighbour was really going on his nerves.

"I'm afraid I cannot offer you any lecture, besides the plane magazine." Lavi groaned at the answer and thanked the woman. Oh, this was going to be a really exciting flight. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Maybe tell me where can I find the toilet. Just for the future." He smiled widely and listened carefully to woman's instructions. Actually, that was an unnecessary thing to ask, since there was only one corridor and only one direction. Moreover, he could clearly see 'TOILET' sign from his seat. However, he did it on purpose. _'At least Lenalee can have a break from this old pervert.' _Just when everything was said, the mentioned pervert decided to stop observing and take an action by shamelessly flirting with the attendant. The redhead took this occasion and inhaled deeply. His mind was full of questions. New questions. It seemed he got himself into a strange international conspiracy and there was no opportunity to go back. He thought about Allen. No matter how much he tried to fit the white-haired boy's role in this twisted scenario, he just couldn't believe. _'Do I really know that little about Allen? He seemed to be so calm, so normal... No, that's no the right thing to say about him. There was always something mysterious, something special. But I'd never thought this 'special' factor was connected to mafia! That Tyki guy surely must be a part of mafia... Is he, though?' _

SLAP!

His train of thought were interrupted by sudden noise in front of him. The blond attendant turned around and walked away, giving off an aura of hate. He looked to his left, only to see the older redhead caressing his swollen cheek. _'Man, what a clown...' _Lavi facepalmed. Both mentally and physically.

"I guess it's time to come back to the things we had been doing before." Marian coughed a few times, staying as cool as possible. "As soon as we land, we're going to stay here for a while and leave the plane as the last passengers. I know the Noah are in a big hurry, the time is of the highest value."

"Are you sure you want to talk about it right here?" Lavi whispered, giving a small glance at the Chinese girl. Luckily for them, Lenalee took the advantage of Cross's earlier flirting and forced herself to take a nap. "There is still something I don't really get. What is the Noah?"

"The Noah is one of the most influential family in the weapon industry." A shiver ran down Lavi's spine at the answer. "Whatever weapon incorporation you know, they always have their people scattered around. In every country, in every continent, you will find them. And when you are an enemy, they make sure to find you. The guy, who Allen is now with, is one of the most important members of that family, Tyki Mikk. He's a contributor to 'the Millennium' project."

"What is this project?"

"The less you know about Noah's activity, the safer you are."

"Then don't mention anything about it, dammit!" Even though he tried to look alright, Lavi's healthy eye was wide from fear. The thought about Allen being so close to such a dangerous man was making him sick. "But he claimed to be one of your old friends! How could Allen not know that?"

"I made one of the biggest mistakes..." Marian gritted his teeth. He was really anoyed by the 'DO NOT SMOKE' restriction. "I should have never borrowed money from that bastard without knowing his true identity. I thought once the deadline was near, I would flee with that idiot and they wouldn't be able to detect us. So fucking wrong was I..." He put his hand inside of a pocket and took out a chewing gum. "When I'd learned he was the Noah, we had no other choice, but to change our locations. I never breathed a word about the debt to Allen, I knew he wouldn't be able to handle it."

"But they had found him..." Lavi ended the story. He could feel it. The rage was slowly building up inside of him. "Because of you Allen is now in grave danger..."

"Don't be a hero, he can take care of himsel-GUH!"

"You fucking imbecile!" The redhead couldn't stand Cross's careless attitude and grabbed other's collar. "Is there something wrong you? Your fucking selfishness forced Allen to clear all the shit you've been making so far! Who do you think you are to push him around like a lifeless object and take your orders like a dog?"

"And who gave you the right to judge me?" The young fist was shaking uncontrollably, but the older male's face wasn't showing any signs of fear. It was completely unmoved. "That idiot has been with me since the moment I took him away from the circus. I fed him, gave him home, raised him." Lavi's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "After losing Mana, I devoted most of my life to pick all the broken pieces of him and bring them together, so that Allen is who he is right now. Our lives have been on the edge from the very beginning and I knew that the world would be brutal to him if I hadn't taught him how to survive." The collar was free from younger's grip. Lavi looked behind Marian Cross, finding that their female companion wasn't napping anymore. Purple eyes looked at males' quarrel in confusion, changing their aim from the older to the younger redhead. "Even though it's me who started it, the idiot decided to solve things on his own and willingly joined the Noah. The reason I and you are here is his mindless thinking." All three were sitting in silence. Lavi looked at the male's face. Not even a small move was noticed on the features.

"Why... Why are you stating everything so calmly?" Cross seemed to be more concentrated on chewing and savoring the raspberry flavor. "You were with Allen so long. Aren't you supposed to be his guardian, to take care of him, to be even concerned about him?"

"This world is not about being nice, fool." _'It's as if I am listening to my gramps...' _"There is no time to play happy games or to laze around. You have almost no chance of finding anything human in people."

"You're right." Lavi answered and stood up. "I can't see anything human in you, for example." Marian turned his head at Lavi, golden eyes burning hole inside of the boy's head. The other smirked. Making the other angry gave him a little satisfaction. "I'm going."

"Wait, where to?"

"Don't tell me you actually care where I want to go?"

"Listen, you brat..." Marian grabbed the boy's hand before the other could go away. His lips quickly moved to Lavi's ear, whispering: "Don't you dare to go and look for Allen. There is no doubt Tyki is near him. He also knows you and knows you are familiar with the idiot. If you two bump into each other, not even a petty excuse about coincidence would work. Under no circumstances must Tyki know we are here."

"To your information, I'm not as stupid as you believe me to be. There is no hell way I want to see that Portuguese bastard, nor I want to put Allen in troubles." Lavi pushed the other's hand away. "And if you're so curious, then know that I really really need to pee. I drank to much water in the morning, the stress didn't let me do my physiological needs properly, I've been holding my bladder the moment we entered the airport, and if I don't relieve myself right now, I may put my pants down in front of you and..."

"Fuck, okay! Don't go into details, I really don't need to hear all of this crap!" The second time this day, Lavi felt victorious about angering the old man and quickly hurried to the 2nd class exit. He entered the hall, the passage between the 2nd and the 1st class. Also, there were four toilet cabins. To his horror, all of them were occupied and even a small queue was formed. _'Oh, you really have got to be kidding me! I've put up with Allen's insane Master, I forcefully accepted the situation I got myself into, I'll probably die by the end of this month, but this? This is a pure, unfair torture...' _

Flush! Flush! Flush!

Three from four cabins were now vacant, but exactly three people were waiting in front of him. He looked in hope at the fourth door, only to hear a very unpleasant sound.

BLERGHhh...

The noise made Lavi even more depressed...

"Lavi?" A familiar voice showed up behind him, so he turned around and faced his companion. Lenalee smiled at redhead in sympathy, since Lavi was jumping from his left to his right foot. "You can do this, hold a little more."

Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeh...

"Oh, the horror..." He whispered, making the other chuckle. His lack of awarness at that moment made him not notice a flush from another cabinet. A man, who was standing behind the Chinese girl, decided to run and quickly take the place. Of course, his action wasn't unnoticed. "What! You... And you call this a freaking etiquette? Don't mind me, but at least you could let this girl go!" Lenalee laughed at Lavi's bursting out. "Oh God, what kind of people do you create!" He huffed in annoyance and furiously knocked on the fourth door. "Hey! And do you know we have things called paper bags under seats? It's a public toilet and people are not willing to smell whatever you've been eating for breakfast!"

"Lavi, please, calm down a little." The redhead sighed and turned his back to the vomiting noise. "Maybe it would help if you don't think too much about your need?"

"Trust me, I've already tried that." He forced a laughter. Suddenly, he realized that the girl had witnessed the earlier scene with Cross. He felt really stupid. "Listen, I'm really sorry for this argument with my... companion... I didn't want to disturb your rest."

"Please, don't let it bother you. I really understand that." Lenalee smiled. "Now that I think about it, you've never said why are you going to Porto. From your need to get into this plane and your earlier conversation I can only assume it's a really important matter." Lavi froze. _'How much did she hear? Fuck, I can't drag her into this mess. It's really enough that I'm here. I wasn't supposed to be here!' _Purple eyes were looking curiously at the redhead when they suddenly detected something moving behind the boy. The doors of cabin were slightly, silently opening, but the person inside didn't seem to be going out.

"Well... I admit that this trip is really important. I need to look for somebody." In this small gap she could notice a shiny, gray orb. She inhaled deeply, but decided not to alarm the boy in front of her. Lavi had averted his green eye from the girl a lot earlier.

"I see. Sorry if I'm asking about something personal." She blushed in embarrassment. Lavi felt bad about his action and wanted to explain himself.

Flush!

But just when he took a deep breath, the flushing sound captured him completely and he ran to the empty cabinet at the speed of light. The Chinese girl made a dumbfounded expression. She huffed at redhead rude behavior. However, her expression changed into cold as she moved to the fourth door, standing right next to the gap. Behind the door, she could hear the other person breathing heavily.

"Are you alright there, Allen?" Lenalee whispered through the door.

"Had better times. I hate planes." The girl laughed softly at grumpy voice. "I think I told you not to follow me, Lenalee."

"You should know the best I don't listen to things I don't like." Allen leaned his head against the wall, trying to gather his thoughts through the cloud of nausea. _'Why is he here... Why... Lavi...' _The moment he heard his ex-neighbour shout at his door made his heart stop. Just when he was sure the redhead wouldn't be able to find him, he suddenly showed up from nowhere. That was bad. Really bad. "Allen..."

"You're not supposed to be here. Neither you, nor... Lavi. How come he's here? Did you bring him?"

"You don't suspect me to do such a careless thing, do you? It was your Master." Allen's eyes widened.

"He's here, too?" The healthy palm ran through his silver locks in agitation. "Man, I'm screwed... Lenalee, listen to me. No matter what, you have to take them away."

"How am I supposed to do that..." Lenalee checked if the redhead wasn't leaving the toilet. "...without being suspicious?"

"I don't know! Pretend to faint, do something dramatic, make them come back with you! Anything! Only to make them be far away, so Master wouldn't detect me."

"Allen, even if I find a way, I'm not going to leave you." She clenched her fists, trying to control herself.

"Lena..."

"I know everything now, Allen." The white-haired boy went silent, completely surprised. "I know about Noah, I know about the weapon. This matter is connected to the Innocence, right? I overheard everything from Lavi and Marian's conversation a while ago." He closed his eyes. Not only the plane was making him sick. The awareness that even more people he cared for were being involved in that situation was crushing him from the inside. "Allen, if the Order knows about that..."

"I don't care about the Order, Lenalee. I'm done with it." The boy interrupted. "This is my business. I know what I'm doing."

"This is not calming me down." The Chinese girl decided to open the door and go inside. She turned around to see the white-haired boy. The same scar on his cheek, the same silver eyes. Tears started to form when she faced the other's worried expression. "I'm scared, Allen. I'm scared that you may have made a wrong decision. Your actions, your intentions..."

"Lenalee."

"...are not going to bring him back." Allen shook. "The moment I heard about you heading to the Noah, I knew. I knew, Allen." He scowled at girl's words. He really didn't want to carry this conversation on. "Why do you punish yourself like that?" She covered her face with her hands, softly sobbing. The white dropped his head, ashamed for making the girl cry. He brought her body against him and embraced her.

"I should have never let you go with me to the Skyscraper '13'." The girl only buried her head in the crook of his neck. He could feel hot streams running down his neck, wetting his black shirt.

"I-Idiot... There is no w-way I'd leave you. I l-love you." She looked up and stared at silver orbs. Her little, thin lips connected with the masculine ones, stealing from the white-haired's boy a kiss. Allen was just standing. He could taste girl's salty tears, full of sorrow and love to him. However, he wasn't doing anything. He knew that if he kissed back, this would only hurt Lenalee more.

_'I love you.'_

_'Lavi...'_ Expecting no reaction, the girl moved her face back and looked at the boy. His eyes were distant, they were somewhere else, watching somebody else.

"I love you, Allen..." She whisepred again, hugging the boy, but looking away. "I have always loved you."

"I know that." Allen lifted his healthy hand and caressed black hair soothingly.

"Do you love me?" The question had always brought a bitter smile on his lips. To his relief, Lenalee never had a chance to see this.

"I do..." He kissed the girls forehead, but unwraped his arms and moved away from the girl. "But not in the way you want me to." The girl looked sadly and laughed.

"Heh... This fact hasn't changed, at all." Allen nodded, smiling warmly at Lenalee. That serene expression, the face that was showing so much strenght and determination, lifted the girl's spirits. She didn't want to worry Allen. So she gave a small, yet honest smile.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Lenalee, are you in there?" Both Allen and Lenalee jumped in surprise at Lavi's voice. Allen immediately covered his mouth. "I couldn't find you in other cabins and you weren't back. God, I'm so sorry for you that you have to deal with that smell! The earlier person should be really ashamed!"

"I-It's alright, it really doesn't smell here!" The girl answered back, slowly moving to the door. "I'll be out in a minute." She looked back at Allen. His cheeks were slightly red and silver orbs suddenly became so fearful, yet so alive and so hoping. Almost... loving. "I have to go." She whispered. Allen only nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take care of them." She opened the door slightly and slipped through the small gap. The action made Lavi look strangely at the girl, but he shrugged anyway. _'Maybe this is some sort of an Asian custom... Yuu also acts suspiciously sometimes.' _Both of them went through the door to the 2nd class. The silver eye watched both silhouettes disappearing behind the curtains. The glimpse of red hair made his heart skip. Making sure the area was clear, he opened the door fully and hurried through the 1st class curtain. Well, he wasn't too careful enough. The blondie attendant looked in awe at the boy, who, out of nowhere, left the cabin, which was at the same time occupied by the Chinese girl.

"Eww! Today's youth doesn't have any moralities!"

~~~~~~~~~~END OF THE CHAPTER~~~~~~~~~~

**AG-RO-TAG's NOTE!**

**Hey!**

**Hey!  
O MY GOD, HEY!**

**Wow, I never thought I would write anything after such a big, enormous, fat, spacey, BIGGIEBIG BREAK!**

**1,5 year...**

**YES! 1,5 FREAKING YEAR!**

**And what happened by that time?**

**My English skill rapidly decreased due to even less contact than before. Please, bear with my mistakes... **

**Studies! Even more studies!**

**Writer's block**

**And what happened? I've just re-read my story after getting a last review from ****flygon3300.**

**Dear person, for some reason you made me recall the spirit I had while writing this story and thanks to that, I suddenly came up with an idea how to carry on.**

**And, readers, don't think that I'm not afraid. I'M BLOODY AFRAID. I'm afraid that sudden 'revival' may cause that this story may not be coherent (I need to make a few notes about some 'Neighbour World's facts) or, even worse, that the writing may seem to be forced.**

**I assure you, IT'S NOT. **

**Somehow, the idea hit me.**

**It just simply did. And about some twists in this chapter:**

**Lenalee, hmm... I'll tell you the truth – my 1,5-year-ago me didn't seem to think over her appearance in this plane. Sorry for my stupid past self. I had some time to think about that. And, now you see the result (besides, I kind of used the fact, that Lenalee showed up in the Skyscraper 13 the same time Allen started to live in the 543 apartament! Ha, clever of me :D) Of course, the bond between those two, the things they have told each other, they will be clarified! (sooner or later, since I don't know when the next opportunity to write will happen)**

**The kiss sc-OMG PLEASE, DON'T THROW ANYTHING HEAVY! NO HEAVY! Phew... Lenalee haters, just please, spare me a little :P**

**Soon I shoud write some background abut Marian and Allen. And the mysterious Order (khu khu ****khu...)**

**OK, it's past 1 a.m., I have to wake up in 4 hours, prepare myself for Monday... Dammit, I don't feel like sleeping...**

**That would be all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Oh, and one other thing. It's really good to see all of you, guys :D**


End file.
